Sakamaki Sister
by ER0R
Summary: Another member of the Sakamaki family suddenly appears. The only female member of the whole Sakamaki siblings; Subaru's younger sister.
1. Chapter 1

Sakamaki Sister

Just an ordinary day in the Sakamaki mansion; all the brothers and Yui Komori are minding their own businesses. Shu; the oldest, is sleeping somewhere, listening to his music. Reiji; second oldest, is in his room, reading a book while having a nice cup of tea. Ayato; the oldest triplet, is currently bored out of his mind, and decides to go for a walk with Raito; the youngest triplet. Kanato; the middle triplet, is playing around with his dear Teddy. Subaru; the youngest only child, is also taking a small nap in his room. And finally, the only female – and food tank – in the whole mansion; Yui Komori, is doing her homework in her room.

This may seem like any other day to the Sakamaki brothers and Yui, but they never thought of something such as the following will happen.

As Ayato and Raito are passing the main gates, they see a small girl – no older than fifteen – a striking image of Subaru, which is very odd. They decide to think of her as a passerby, but she then calls out.

"Hey, is this the Sakamaki mansion?" her small voice echoes to their ears.

Raito then steps up to the gate and crouches eye level to the small girl.

"Why yes, it is. Something you need?" his voice playful as usual.

She then searches her pocket in a hurry, not wanting Raito to wait. A piece of paper is then handed to Raito, who skims through it. Ayato sighs and attempts to leave, but is stopped when he hears Raito gasp in total shock.

"What is it?" Ayato asks.

Without any hesitation, Raito opens the gate and carries the young girl bridal style, and then speed walks to the mansion.

"Hey, wait up! Don't leave Yours Truly behind!" Ayato chases Raito, really confused by Raito's sudden change of behavior.

Raito nearly slams the door open.

"**SUBARU!**" he shouts loudly, scaring the poor girl.

Instead of only Subaru, the whole household comes down to the lobby in a cluster of footsteps; very shocked and annoyed at Raito's outburst. The person who Raito called steps up front, a very obvious angry look on his slightly sleepy face.

"What's the meaning of this?" He almost shouts, pointing at the girl who Raito is still carrying.

"It's _you_ who should be explaining" Raito retorts. "You never told us you had a younger sister" he continues.

Everyone stays silent, Subaru has a sister? There's a female Sakamaki? This information was never known, even by Shu, the one who always gets all the calls. They all stare at the girl whose still in Raito's arms, skeptically looking at her, unbelieving. Especially Subaru; his mother never told him about this, let alone his father. But Richter could've known about this, right?

"This can't be, I didn't know about this…" Reiji fixes his glasses, confused and slightly annoyed.

The small girl hops down from Raito and heads to Shu, giving him the letter.

"The oldest, am I correct?" she bluntly says, her soft blood red eyes staring at ocean blue ones.

Shu takes the letter in his hand, and reads aloud.

Dear, sons

Forgive me for not informing you all about this, but it seems like I have nearly forgotten about my one and only daughter, Aria. A picture of dear Christa brought my mind up to her, and remembered that Aria is in a hospital at that moment, due to her current condition; but she's alright now.

Anyways, I decided to send her to you all, and become one as a family again. Beatrix and Cordelia knew about this, but ignored her presence for their own needs. She became heavily ill during birth which caused Christa great worry, sure that she disliked her ways of giving birth, but her concern for the one and only daughter of the Sakamaki family brought her to come to some senses and cure her. She thought that Aria could bring change to our family, but I doubt that.

Take good care of your sister, especially you, Subaru. As her blood-related brother, I expect you to be kind to her mostly.

Farewell, sons

Father, Karl Heinz

Shu finishes reading, putting the letter back to Aria's hands. Yui seems a bit happy that there's another girl in the house, even though she's a vampire. Some seems to take interest too, like Raito and Kanato, new _playmate._ The only one who's pushed by this is Subaru; he clenches his fists, eyes downcast, and walks slowly to his room.

Aria eyes his older brother, wondering if there's something wrong with her presence. She _was_ going to go after him, but is stopped by Raito pouncing on her.

"Welcome, dear sister!" he chirps, rubbing his cheek against Aria's, who seems totally annoyed.

"I'll be expecting good manners from you, young lady" Reiji says, smirking a little.

"And do everything that Yours Truly says, got that?" Ayato continues the supposed-to-be-done sentence by Reiji.

Shu nods, accepting her, but is too sleepy to say it.

Kanato eyes Aria, a small sadistic smile upon his lips

And Yui hiding her happiness, but is still seen smiling widely.

Aria _is_ happy that she is welcomed in the family, but the mere thought of Subaru's ashen expression drills to her senses, making her not totally happy of her position. She then notices that Raito has let go of her and is now giggling to himself, Shu and Reiji has left along with Ayato, Kanato is back on the sofa and playing with Teddy, and Yui is eyeing her curiously.

Yui's stare has caught Aria's attention; she then turns her head to Yui. Her eyes soft and solid at the same time, her skin pale like the others, almost shining long white hair, small body, and a sweet smile that may be a devil's mask.

"You have been with them for quite some time, I recon. Mind telling me more about the brothers I've met only just now?" her speech polite; like Reiji's, but not a single hidden meaning, threat, or insult found.

Yui nods, and motions her to come to her room for more private talk. Aria meekly follows Yui up the stairs and to her room. Yui opens the door and lets Aria go in first, she does and sits on the soft silk bed, admiring the tidiness of this room.

"Now then, where would you like to start?" Yui sits next to Aria, making the bed slightly bounce.

"I guess starting from to oldest to youngest will suffice" Aria nods slightly.

Yui takes a small breath in and out, then starts

"Shu's the laziest out of all, but he can be nice sometimes, if you know what situation you're in. Reiji on the other hand is the one who takes all responsibilities in hand; he dislikes bad manners, and **will **give _punishments _to those who disobey the rules. Ayato is a bit full of himself; he's confident but _can _be reckless and annoying. Kanato isn't as innocent as he seems, he's really scary sometimes, but he can also be quite childish. Raito's just a huge pervert, that's all I gotta say to be honest. And finally there's Subaru, he's a bit lonely I guess, he got mad at me for some reason on my first day here and broke a wall, also my phone…" Yui stares down at the floor, remembering that day when her dear phone was crushed by a mere hand.

Aria stays silent for a bit to process all that information from Yui; who's still staring at the floor.

"Wait, how do you know which is which?" Yui asks, lifting her once sorrow eyes.

"Father gave me their names and pictures a while back, and it wasn't all that difficult to distinguish them either" Aria gives a small smile at Yui.

Aria nods and then gets off the bed, heading for the door. She opens it and walks outside to the halls, her small feet making tiny clicking sounds. The hallway is simple but also detailed in a way, a vase of roses here and there, the line of chandeliers on the ceiling, the dark red carpet, and the many candles lighting the way. This feels like home for Aria, even better than the friendly hospital that she was in; it was _too_ friendly there. Aria is more of a solitude person, constantly wanting to be left on her own to wonder about her own life without someone asking nearly every second. And this is perfect; this gigantic mansion only consists of six of her brothers, a butler, and a girl – two since she came here. The amount of residents and the size of the mansion is just _perfect_ for her, the lush yet dark back and front gardens, the calming atmosphere of the gothic themed rooms, and the faint scent of roses; just perfect.

Aria makes her way back to the lobby, eyeing the 3 way intersection curiously. She just came down from the second floor, now it to pick left or right. From stair view, she turns to the left, where she spies a hint of blonde hair on a sofa; suspected as the lazy Shu.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakamaki Sister

Aria makes her way to his oldest brother, smiling a bit at how much of a child he is for taking naps; even she herself does not take naps anymore. Shu's soft blonde locks fall perfectly all around his pale sleeping face, Aria giggles a bit at that; charming. She eyes the sleeping form of Shu, heavily wondering of how much of a lazy brother he is.

"Why are you here?" Shu's eyes slowly opens, staring at Aria.

"I was only passing by and happened to see you taking slumber here, is that a mistake?" Aria tilts her head.

"Not that I'm concerned of" he sighs and closes his eyes, "Now run along, I don't need to be bothered" he sleepily says before sleeping once more.

"Alright. Sleep well, brother" Aria smiles and walks away, knowing Shu's heavy need of rest

She wanders around some more, and ends up in the kitchen; where Kanato is enjoying some cookies. Her solid eyes stare at Kanato's form, then to the teddy bear that's on his lap. She feels a strange attraction to the stuffed toy on his lap; impossible, she isn't _that _type of girl, not easily falling for items such as those. But still, she admits that the doll _is_ adorable in any way. Aria takes a small sigh and attempts to leave, but Kanato notices that she was there staring at him; so he calls her.

"Aria, what are you doing?" he asks, slightly uncomfortable relating to the previous moment of Aria weighing her gaze at him.

"I was passing by, then I saw you in here; so I decided to see what you were up to" Aria says softly, wanting the tense atmosphere to become less.

Kanato munches on another cookie, not noticing that Aria was_ staring _rightat _his _beloved Teddy. Sensing on no more talk, Aria takes her leave, and strangely enough to her, still thinking of his teddy bear.

Aria proceeds to explore the mansion, and looking out for any unattended room for her to do her _hobbies_. She wanders around more and more, her curiosity growing each passing second. She then proceeds to a halt, looking at a room which door is open; conveniently too. The room doesn't seem to belong to anyone; judging from the dust pilling up all around and the odd scent of the room. Aria then confidently walks in, inspecting if all the items in the room are working properly; lights, fireplace, furniture, and others.

To be honest, Aria's mind can only focus on one thing at a time; so she doesn't notice the other figure that's entering the room, his vision staying unmoved from Aria's form.

"And what might you be doing?" Reiji sharply points out.

Aria yelps and nearly trips as she twirls to see who's behind her. After seeing the familiar stern face of Reiji, she calms down then fixes her posture; to maintain his liking of proper manners.

"Brother, I advise that you do _not _do any actions related to the one you did just before. That nearly gave me a heart attack; if I am a mortal, that is" Aria holds the location of where a heart _should_ be.

"Forgive me then, sister. My curiosity seems to have risen to the point I did not think of the outcome" Reiji says, his eyes softening slightly to the _only_ other person who seems to harbor decent manners. "But might I ask of why are you here?"

"I was wondering if this room was in any use currently. I need some space to do my _works _privately, if you will" Aria scans the room, taking in the simple surroundings.

Reiji nods, a sign that this room is not in use, until now.

"Yes, you may use this room as you like. Another thing, your bedroom is located in front of Yui's. I believe you know where it is located?" he fixes his spectacles.

"I understand. Thank you for the information, brother. If you will excuse me, I shall be taking my leave" Aria leaves the room, Reiji behind her; he goes the opposite to where Aria is going.

Aria continues her indoor stroll, taking turns here and there. Soon enough, she finds herself back in the lobby; it seems like the hallways are going around. She _is_ relieved that she knows what is where though, upstairs can wait for later. Her eyes shift to the front door. Since she has already explored the first floor, she decides to look around the gardens; front and back.

Her steps echo throughout the lobby, making it the only sound heard. The silence then breaks to a sound of other footsteps.

"Oi, don't turn your back on Yours Truly" Ayato sneers playfully.

"Forgive me, brother" Aria turns around, facing her brother.

"Don't call me that, call me Yours Truly" he says confidently, moving closer to his sister.

"Alright, Yours Truly" Aria obeys, sensing great sadistic needs from him.

Ayato gives her a nod of approval and walks of; after giving her a pat on the head. While motioning away, he laughs; totally amused.

Aria ignores that laugh and moves on to the gardens, where countless roses grow everywhere. She breathes in the scent of almost withered roses, this calms her a lot. She walks around the gardens, taking in the view of her past abode.

"Ah, sister~!" she hears a voice chirp happily; Raito.

"Yes?" Aria turns to see Raito jump at her, then hugging her lovingly.

"How's the mansion so far?" he asks.

"Very nice in my opinion, I really like the décor and atmosphere" Aria says, slightly annoyed at the sudden contact.

"Good to know that my cute sister likes it" Raito pokes Aria's cheek, earning a tiny grunt.

Raito giggles playfully, enjoying the moment of an annoyed Aria. He then stands up.

"Big brother has to go now; he has a lot to do. Farewell~" He waves then leaves.

Aria is really relieved that he left; Yui was right, he _is _a pervert…

Her current final stop is the back garden; where a huge lake is also situated, tall trees looming over the lush grass, and some benches too. Looking further, she sees her only blood-related brother; Subaru, sitting on a bench. His position seems to be like he's in deep thought, and also a hint of depression. Aria _wanted_ to confront him, but knowing how destructive he can be from Yui, she retreats her thoughts and walks away.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakamaki Sister

Aria makes her way back to the front garden. There, she sees Yui cutting some roses and arranging them into a bouquet. She stops for a bit to wave at Yui, who waves back. Continuing, she looks up at the windows, where she sees some of her brothers; Shu, Reiji, and Raito. Her gaze then falls back to front, where she sees a familiar figure; Kanato, getting closer to Yui. Aria ignores this and proceeds on.

Along the way, she sees yet another familiar figure, Subaru. It seems like he's calmed down, but the depressed look in his face is still visible. Again, Aria ignores this and goes inside the mansion, slowly stepping up the stairs to her room.

Her surroundings has changed slightly, the tension of the whole building seems to get heavier, as if some event will happen that might change everyone's views. The feeling eats away Aria's curiosity; making her not walk to her room, but instead to a window that's overlooking a view of the front garden.

"Is that?" she says.

Not far from her stands Subaru and the Sakamaki siblings' uncle, Richter. He has visited Aria once, before her father took her out the hospital. She doesn't like him that much; considering his attitude towards her and her brothers.

"I see that your sister has returned" Richter says to Subaru, his eyes void of any interest.

"I don't care, go away and get lost" Subaru retorts, obviously unhappy about Richter's appearance.

"Is that how you treat your uncle? Your mother should've taught you more" Richter comments, slightly amused of Subaru's sudden reaction.

"Do **not** bring her up to this conversation, I couldn't care less" Subaru turns his head away, reminiscing his mother's behavior towards him.

"Christa, as I remembered, took more care of Aria rather than you, know your place as the one below. And another thing; that other girl, Yui, was it? She will awaken to her powers soon, remember that" Richter warns, then a gust of strong wind blows, making Subaru's hair flow smoothly. And just like that, Richter is gone.

Subaru clicks his tongue, thinking about his previous words. All of the siblings' mothers were the same, not giving their children any attention right? And what does he mean by Yui's power will soon rise. All these questions swell up in Subaru's mind, making him more confused and irritated. He gives out a small grunt and walks inside the mansion, not noticing his sister who heard every single word in their conversation.

Also like Subaru; Aria is also taken aback by the conversation. To her, all of Richter's words are just lies, her father told her that Beatrix, Cordelia, and Christa loved all of them, and they died in an accident. Now Aria's really confused, two _facts_ merged to one, her head starts to get heavy, causing slight nausea.

Which of them lied? Father _could _lie for the sake to keep Aria's innocence. Richter _could_ also lie to put pressure on Subaru. Which one is the truth?

All these mixed feelings spins around, nearly making her feel faint; because of her frail health issues, but she's still standing strong. Aria attempts to walk to her room to her room to get some rest, but the sound of Yui's pleading made her stop her tracks right in front of Reiji's room. She takes a small peak from the tiny creak of the door.

And to her absolute shock, she sees Reiji sadistically sucking Yui's blood; ignoring Yui's begging to stop. Aria knows about her brother's sadistic characteristic, but not _this _sadistic. The mere thought of this frightens Aria to a level where no other being has been to, she takes a breath the dashes to her room, locking it, and then bounces on her bed.

Her room not like Yui's soft feeling one; Aria's room has candles all around the place, the bed sheet is white with a black, thick, and fluffy blanket. A desk and a wardrobe too, colored in black and white. There's also a small fireplace, where small lights of yellow, orange, and red flicker. Next to her bed lies a black coffin with white cushioning inside, the lid of it having some engravings, and rimmed with silver.

A part of the floor catches Aria's attention; she walks to it, very curious. The odd part of the floor is not covered with shiny tiles like the rest, it's wooden, and has a handle on it. Aria's small hand pulls up the handle, and to her surprise, reveals the room where she wanted her _workplace_ to be; a ladder connecting both rooms.

Aria's eyes scan the room once more; everything seems to be in place perfectly, from floor to ceiling. As if this room _is_ meant for her to reside in.

A small sigh escapes Aria's lips, the worry of Yui's condition worrying her more and more. After that sight, she's more likely afraid of Reiji, that politeness of his was an act. Her mind remembers something else; Yui mentioned that Kanato is also a massive sadist. That thought sends shivers down her spines; even though it's not meant to.

She has stayed in the world of humans for far too long to the point that she has forgotten how vampires are supposed to be; so of course that sudden event made her utterly paralyzed with fear. Her tongue then glides over her fangs, while reminding herself that she is too a vampire. But a more petite figure in this mansion of vampires and a human, also a butler; who seems to appear and reappear anywhere.

Her eyes then drops down to her hands, where small scars are still visible. During her stay in the hospital, many of the kids there bullied her for having strange eye and hair color, also mocking her about how her parents left her behind in the hospital.

That caused both mental and physical pain to her. She's tenderer now, meekly doing things to avoid her past to come true once more. She also wears jackets and long pants often, to hide her wounds. But that's the past, this is the present.

Aria's mind goes back to Reiji, what if he tries to hurt her again? What then?

She stays silent, already used to negative thinking. She then stands up and then plops herself on her bed, her eyes giving out as a sign of fatigue. Slowly but surely, she falls to deep slumber.

Totally unaware of Subaru who was watching her through a creak of the door; which Aria forgot to lock_twice_.

He sighs, closes the door, and then strides to his own room, her sister in his mind of hatred and worry.


	4. Chapter 4

Sakamaki Sister

Aria wakes up after some time, her eyes still adjusting to the light. Her head shifts to a shadow in the room, didn't she lock the door?

Her vision came to, and sees Yui sitting next to her on her bed. A small smile on her face, but Reiji's bite mark still very much visible.

"Had a good sleep?" Yui's soft voice makes it way to Aria's ears.

"Yes, thanks for asking. And might I ask you of how did you enter my room?" Aria looks at the door, then to Yui.

"Oh, sorry; I forgot to tell you that in this mansion, all doors need to be locked _twice_" Yui's apologetic face shows.

"It's fine; at least it wasn't one of my brothers who entered" Aria laughs quietly, still drowsy.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave now" Yui gives a small bow and then goes out the door.

Sleepy red orbs scan the room; the fire is out, which means that she has slept for quite a long time. Her small foot touches the cold tiled floor, sending tiny cold stings all throughout her small body. She then walks over to the fireplace and lights the fire once more; giving her room a warm touch. She sighs in bliss as the feel of warm orange flames makes it way around her; making her feel the warmth she had longed for.

Aria's vision skips from the fire to the lid on the floor; the one that connects to her _working _room. She makes her way to it and opens it; the room below very untidy. Aria – being someone who dislikes a distorted room – goes to her bathroom to get a washcloth and a basin of water; not what she had in mind, but it'll suffice.

She steps cautiously down to the room below; basin and washcloth in hand. As she reaches the floor, she puts the basin and washcloth down on a nearby table. Eyeing the room once more, she sighs at how much dust has gathered all around the furniture, making her clean more. But nonetheless, she has to clean for her own comfort.

Aria opens the door and looks to her left and right, looking for any signs of her brothers; none of them are seen, making her job much easier and without any disruptions. A look of determination gleams from her solid red orbs; she's ready to clean, and after this, a bath.

She ties her skirt up to make her movements easier, and tied her hair with her ribbon that was on her neck. Aria looks around the room once more, but then realizes that there isn't any broom around; which she _thought_ that there would be. She sighs heavily and goes out the room in search of a broom, and luckily, she finds one in the storage room not too far away; _now_ she can start cleaning up.

Aria starts by sweeping the floor; making sure not to leave a single layer of dust behind. She then proceeds to mop the floor using the wet washcloth; the traditional Japanese way, true that it's tiring, but the job gets done with bonus exercise.

The floor and the furniture are done, and now she has to clean the knick-knacks. Aria starts with the shelf filled with various bells and music boxes from different countries, beautiful. She cleans them carefully and thoroughly, because some of the bells are purely made out of glass and the music boxes look so fragile. Aria always loved these things from when she was but a small child at the age of seven.

The hospital room emitted warm gusts of air from the heater on a snowy winter day; it's around the middle of winter, the time which Aria happened to dislike most. The harsh weather outside makes her mood go down as well, the stinging bitterness of the cold making her seem more frail, and the sight of people having fun in the snow made her want to join too; but she couldn't because of her very poor health.

She kept looking outside; sometimes wishing that someone would notice her and would accompany her. The sight of white bored her to death; if that was possible. She tried everything to distract herself from the growing boredom; a sigh of agitation released itself every time she fails.

Aria gave up on everything she can try to do, until one day; a radio station played a song she has never heard before. She _attempted_ to switch it, until the sound of bells and music boxes disrupted her movements. It was the most fascinating sound that she has ever heard; the soft chiming of the bells and the perfectly timed tunes of the music box eventually made her fall asleep, a peaceful one finally.

That's how Aria had grown fond of bells and music boxes. Other people think that it's odd for her to harness such likings, but it _is_ her own likes, so she ignores others' comments and keeps on admiring the beautiful simple instruments.

Her attention was so fixated on the bell that she doesn't notice her surroundings anymore; resulting in Ayato being able to enter.

"What's that?" he asks.

Ayato's sudden voice results in Aria nearly dropping the perfectly polished bell.

"Brother, please, I ask you kindly to **not** do that again. The ironic thing is that Reiji did the same in this very same room" Aria slowly puts the bell back in the shelf and then eyeing her redhead brother.

"Yours Truly was just curious, no need to make a fuss" he waves his hand absently, a teasing smirk playing on his face.

"I was just cleaning, is there a problem in me doing so?" Aria's voice slightly annoyed.

"Not really, but why so focused on the bells?" Ayato points at the shelf; which consists of many bells, all perfectly polished.

"To your dismay, I cannot pour out such information. Even if you a_re_ my brother, I am not acquainted with you long enough to trust you to such extend" her voice absent of emotion.

"Big words from such a small girl… Just make sure that you don't turn out like Reiji, okay?" Ayato huffs in annoyance by Reiji's name.

He then takes his leave; seemingly bored by Aria's current activity.

The look in Aria's face suddenly turns from neutral to sorrow; the scene of Reiji sadistically sucking Yui's blood suddenly comes to mind. Ayato didn't notice this, as he has left. Aria sighs and continues cleaning, and trying to forget the scene.

As she proceeds to the bookshelves, she discovers a small switch behind one of the books, out of curiosity, she pushes it. She lets out a startled mewl as the wall next to the bookshelf reveals another room, quite spacious and empty; except for the two large items hidden by a layer of dusty cloth.

Aria inspects the larger item out of the two, walking around it; viewing every bit of it. She comes to a conclusion that the item beneath the cloth is a grand piano, or something of the sort. Her hands grip the side of the cloth and pull it off, her prediction was right; a stainless grand piano is located in front of her.

An amazed gasp leaves her lips; excited eyes gleaming in delight. A hidden piano in the mansion, and she was the _first_ one to discover it; from her brothers. Her expression shows great victory and pride, small giggling can also be heard.

Next, she pulls off the cloth from the smaller object. Under it is…


	5. Chapter 5

Sakamaki Sister

An old music player, it seems; Aria doesn't know, as her knowledge of items like theses isn't as wide as others.

The wooden box is elevated by four gold colored legs, a golden colored like tool which looks like a trumpet is softly gleaming to the soft light from the window; creating tiny bits of golden hues on the dusty wooden floor.

The wooden box has an even dustier glass lid, to cover the machinery, perhaps?

Aria's hand lifts the glass lid; not too heavy, but its age _has_ made it quite heavy. Inside of it contains a single black disc, engraved with a title to which she doesn't recognize. Other than that, the machinery itself seems fine; no dents or dirt in view.

Aria looks around the room; a lonely shelf is located not far from the music player. Her feet take herself towards it, and then opening the knobs. Inside contains numerous discs from various countries too, close and far.

Her eyes scan the collection; there's a few from America, some from France, others from Rome, a few from China, many from England, and others from countries she has never heard about. Excited eyes gleam as she picks up a disc at random, walking to the music player and then using said machinery to play it.

It's a slightly difficult task for her to accomplish; since she has never used machinery as old as this. But she manages to do it; soft music plays, filling the room with relaxing sounds.

Her heart feels the warmth of the song, Little Cry of the Abyss, if she read correctly. The calming sounds of the singer collaborates with the piano and drums perfectly, resulting in harmonious tunes from the music player.

To be honest, she once hoped to be a singer one day; but the mere thought _did_ cause her to seem foolish to herself. Aria keeps listening to the heartwarming song, then a thought appears.

She turns off the music player.

"Shu listens to music, does he not? I think he likes classical due to the relaxed face he always display. That song seemed to be in the genre, if I'm not mistaken… Maybe I could… _If_ he wants to, that is" Aria think aloud, plotting a way for her to sway Shu into playing for her.

She nods then runs out of the room to look for Shu; her music loving oldest brother. Small thumping noise can be heard throughout the halls; her quick running making the sound being produced rapidly. Taking a left here, a right there, and another right; to the living room where she saw Shu sleeping before.

To her excitement, she sees Shu resting on a sofa; his eyes slightly open, just looking at the empty ceiling. She steps closer to her lazy brother, causing him to look at her direction.

"What do you want?" his voice obviously having a hint of annoyance.

"You _are _fond of classical pieces, are you not?" Aria asks politely, making sure to not deepen his brother's current mood.

"What of it?" he asks, not very interested, _yet._

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I happen to find a **piano** in a hidden room. And I am currently offering if you would like to play it" Aria says; pressing the word 'piano', a smile on her face.

Shu's expression lights up for a millisecond; his eyes giving off a lighter shade of ocean blue. He the sits up and looks at Aria, his face still rather uncaring, but still showing interest.

"Where?" he asks; voice quiet.

"I knew you were interested, come" Aria giggles at the fact that Shu is showing interest to her finding.

Aria leads Shu to where she had found the piano. Her steps slow for the fact that her brother is walking at a rather slow pace; tired, perhaps? She eyes Shu, and he gives back a look of understanding.

"I'm a bit tired, that's all. I just… woke up" he yawns as he says that.

His younger sister nods in response, proceeding to lead the older male to their designated room.

The door to Aria's _work room_ opens with a squeak; the door needs oiling. She then leads Shu to the piano.

"Here it is" Aria points out, touching the dustless, sleek, and shiny instrument.

Shu's eyes light up more each passing moment, he then tells Aria to move away so he can sit on the chair. She moves out of the way for her brother to play, he sits on the chair, viewing the keys before starting.

He plays smoothly; no mistakes, no hesitation, just the perfection of Shu's fingers gliding over each key. Aria just stands there; amazed. She had a feeling that Shu is capable of playing the piano, but she never expected that he's _this_ good; somehow, she feels blessed to have such talent within someone so close to her.

As the final note sounds, Aria claps her hands; cheering softly. Shu looks at her rather amused, never he had seen someone so close to him react like that.

"Might I ask, but what piece was that?" Aria tilts her head, a smile still plastered on her face.

"Fantaisie Impromptu, you don't know it?" Shu's eyes glaze at Aria's small form, then back to the keys.

"I'm afraid not, my life in the hospital _has_ limited my knowledge of most things. So forgive me" Aria bows respectfully.

Shu gives out a tiny scoff before patting her snowy white hair; like Subaru's hair. Aria smiles at his brother's warm demeanor and at that action, she remembers something else.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I also found this old music player" Aria points at said contraption.

The older blonde gives his sister an odd look; but walks to the music player anyways. His hand inspects every inch of the machine and the discs. Ocean blue eyes seem dull to the view of the worn out machinery, he sighs and once again looks at his sister.

"Does it work?" he asks casually.

"Yes, it does. I played a disc a moment before I searched for you, and I was wondering about… You… _If_ you want to that is… To play the song that was listening to" Aria's voice trembles slightly; in trepidation that Shu might mock her or anything of the kind.

"What song was it?" he asks, eyeing the nervous girl.

Red orbs shine in delight as Shu _partially _accepts the small offer.

"Little Cry of the Abyss" Aria answers happily.

"I've never heard of that one, mind showing me?" Shu asks.

Aria nods and plays the disc again.


	6. Chapter 6

Sakamaki Sister

The soft sound of the song spreads out to the room, creating a fluttery feeling within the two siblings. Shu's eyes close as his head nods to the beat; he seems calm. Aria eyes her brother, but then averts her gaze when she realizes a tint of pink forming on her cheeks.

"You want me to play this?" Shu's voice disrupts Aria's thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, that's right. _If _you're willing to, that is" her eyes still looking at the back garden from the window.

Shu then heads for the shelf of discs; his eyes scanning all over the cases. Aria's curiosity gets the best of her, and she goes to the shelf too; wondering what his older brother is in search of.

"There it is" he pulls out a small book that's tightly packed between two cases.

He blows the dust off the small book; is scripted with multiple colors on the book's cover. The pages of the book is rather damaged because of age, the color of the book seems to be fading as well. Shu quickly goes through the pages, his eyes skimming each page quickly; taking no interest.

His attention then gets stuck on a page, he shows it to Aria.

"Little Cry of the Abyss, right?" his voice seemingly excited.

Aria nods and then views the writings under the musical bars; lyrics are also there within the book.

They both step over to the piano, where then Shu sits down and set the book on the piece of wood attached on the piano. He then takes a breath and plays, the melody of Shu's perfect playing amazes Aria to an extent where her amazement is beyond amazement. This is the first time he played after listening to the song, _once_. That _really_ took Aria by surprised; but she can't help but think that her brother's skill is _slightly_ frightening in a way.

His fingers stop as he reaches the final note.

"There" he huffs.

Aria's expression slowly grows with sadness; that was it?

"Wait a moment… I uh… Wondered if I could accompany you by singing while you play?" her sentence ends up as a question, as she wasn't sure herself of her decision.

Shu seems to be taken aback by this new shine in Aria's eyes; hints of excitement, drops of determination, and splashes of hope. To this, it reminds him of what he _could_ become if his mother supported him through. It actually sparked a fire of hatred towards the young girl, but she _is_ his sister; so he decides to oblige her wishes, for her happiness and his own.

"Alright" he says, facing the piano once more.

Aria's face lights up; marking her joy. She sits next to Shu and waits for him to play, he does shortly afterwards. The notes circle around Aria's mind, trying hard to remember the timing, pitch, and the feeling. A deep breath… And she sings.

Her timing and pitch a bit off, but she then gets it perfectly. Her light smooth voice making perfect synchronization with Shu's playing. It softens Shu's heart a bit; it's been a long while since he had felt something like this, so he enjoys the moment with his _beloved _younger sister.

The song ends with perfection, the melodies ending at synch; accompanied by a happy Aria and a relaxed Shu. Her red eyes look at her brother's seemingly smiling face; she feels her heart warm up.

"Good job" Shu says patting white strands of hair.

Aria's face lights up; smiling widely, feeling her dear brother's warm touch.

They both then close the piano's lid and put the book back in the shelf. Shu opens the door and walks away from the room; he _was _going to go back to the living room for a nap, but a certain white haired young girl clings onto him from behind.

"Thank you, brother" Aria says; voice muffled by Shu's clothing.

She then lets him go free, but Shu stays there for a bit; taken aback by Aria's action. A moment later, he leaves Aria alone again.

She finds this as a normal behavior of the oldest brother, so she leaves it as it is. But it's not.

Shu has never been embraced by someone like that before; let alone a girl. His cheeks remain pale, but the pumping of his heart says otherwise. He refuses to believe that he has grown some feelings for his younger sister, but his heart _does _beat at a faster pace when she hugged him back then.

"Can't be" Shu clicks his tongue in annoyance.

His speed quickens as the thought of Aria's warm touch to his body remains; wanting to get as far away from her as possible, no not get caught and cause a ruckus. Thumping noise vibrates through the halls merrily; Shu quickens his step more, hurrying to his room now.

As he arrives, he closes the door quietly and then sighs. He makes his way over to his coffin and lies down on the velvet red sheet within the coffin. He lets out another sigh.

"How bothersome…" he whispers to no one in particular.

He closes his eyes slowly, ocean blue descending into darkness. A flash of Aria's warm smile crosses through his mind; his sleep seems to be more peaceful than usual.

A bond has been made


	7. Chapter 7

Sakamaki Sister

The clock rings at 10.00PM, time when humans usually end their day and sleep. But the Sakamaki mansion gets livelier at this time.

Aria's brothers are currently somewhere around the house, Yui's probably in her room continuing her homework. The reason to why they aren't at school right now is because the school they go to are having some renovations; so students are sent for about a week of holiday, and they go to school tomorrow.

A yawn leaves Aria's gaping mouth – she rubs her slightly tearing eye. She _has_ been cleaning for a long while, and after that, she reviewed many of the records kept in the shelf near the piano. After that, she read some books from the other shelf; since she is new to this new world, she needs to know as much as possible to fit in. The activities surely have worn out a girl with such frail health, so she goes to her room and lies down on her bed.

The silky material of her bed makes her totally relaxed within mere seconds, and then a happy sig is released from the tired girl. She rolls around several times on her bed; enjoying every inch of the bed's softness.

"Enjoying the bed, I see" a voice says from the door.

"Very much, Brother Kanato" Aria looks at her purple haired brother.

Kanato steps closer to Aria's bed then sits on it, he then bounces a bit.

"Well, it _is _rather soft. Wouldn't you say too, Teddy?" he sets his teddy bear – the one which Aria admired a bit before – on the bed.

Aria eyes Teddy; the pink clothing and the eye-patch on it making the toy cuter.

"Excuse me, but are you looking at _my_ Teddy?" Kanato's voice suddenly becomes eerie.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to" Aria averts her eyes fro said stuffed toy.

"Don't act so innocent like Yui, it makes me sick" he says.

Kanato positions himself closer to the offended girl; a sadistic glow in his eyes.

"Kanato… Not too close" Aria tries to push Kanato away, but her tired body makes it almost impossible; also due to Kanato's strength.

Her purple haired brother just giggles sadistically and inches his form closer to the far smaller one of Aria's. He then traps Aria between his arms; resulting the girl to panic more.

"Even _if _you _are_ my sister, I still hold no hesitation in doing this to you" Kanato whispers.

Aria is still trying to push Kanato away; this distance is _really_ uncomfortable for her. She keeps pushing even if it doesn't work; she then starts to whimper pitifully.

"Doing that will make it worst for you. I actually joy in faces twisted with fear" he smirks.

In Aria's mind, she's really thinking that Kanato is a major sadist; maybe even more than Reiji. This causes a spark of fear to grow within her _heart_, an assumable sign that she is much more scared of Kanato than she is to Reiji.

Aria – even if she's enhanced with fear – still fights to get Kanato off her. Kanato seems to enjoy this; he then binds Aria's wrists with his hand above her head.

"You're so cute, you know that" he whispers again.

He then licks Aria's now exposed collarbone; making her jolt and whimper. Her comfort zone has been breached; she's very stressed now, overwhelmed by fatigue, fear, confusion, and doubt. But the odd thing is, she's not worried about herself, she's worried about Yui. How can that woman stand living with these sadistic excuses of brothers?

Kanato proceeds to take off Aria's jacket, admiring her pale and unblemished skin. But Kanato's thoughts change as he sees the scar on Aria's right upper arm; from a sharp object, it seems.

"What is this?" Kanato questions Aria, looking at her in the eye.

"It's… Nothing…" she lies. Looking away from Kanato's burning gaze.

"Don't lie to me, _sister_" he sneers; disgust sensed in his final word.

Aria sits back up and covers herself with her jacket, then fixing her long hair from the tangled mess.

"When I was in the hospital… I got bullied a lot by the other kids the same age, older, even younger" her head slumps down in shame; a vampire getting hurt by mortals.

Kanato laughs at this newfound information.

"What a disgrace… And I thought that you're beautiful, those scars of yours and your weakness changed it all. You're nothing but an ugly weakling that doesn't deserve to live!" Kanato raises his hand in an attempt to slap Aria; since there's nothing of use to cause **real** damage.

Aria closes her eyes; waiting for the impact, but it doesn't. Instead Kanato's thrilled laughter blasts to her ears.

"I'll be nice to you, _sister_, just for now. I promise to not tell the others about this, if you don't show any interest to _my_ Teddy" Kanato smiles sinisterly, hugging Teddy tightly.

Aria lets out her breath that she's been holding for a long time and nods; the promise is made.

"Good then. I'll leave you be, but remember that I _will _continue our little game. Alright?" he giggles then exits the room.

Shaky legs carry Aria to the door, then her also shaking hands locks the door, _twice_. She then staggers over to her bed and plops herself on the furniture once more, breathing in a hefty amount of air.

She sits up and takes off her jacket; inspecting all the wounds and deformations she attained at her time in the hospital. Some are serious and widespread, others are minor and almost out of sight. She sighs in dread that her wounds _might_ be exposed to her brothers; thus making them look down and bully her too for being a weakling, like what Kanato said.

"No need to fuss over it now, he'll keep his promise… I hope" she starts to doubt on Kanato's promise.

She tosses her jacket to the other side of her bed, but then she remembers that she doesn't have anything to change to. An annoyed grunt vibrates from her throat. Aria then accepts the fact that she'll sleep like this.

"Oh, that's right" Aria mumbles and steps into the bathroom to wash her dusty face, hands, and to feel the cold water flow through her hands.

Her eyes travel to a suspicious box decorated with some colorful ribbons. She picks in up slowly; there seems to be something inside. Her hands open the lid of the box, inside is a black, short-sleeved nightgown with dark purple laces. What is this?

As she inspects the box more, she sees a note attached to the inside of the lid.

To my lovely sister, Aria

I noticed that you did not have any bags with you, which means that you don't have anything to change into for tonight.

So I planned ahead and took this out of the heap of unused clothing, washed it, and put it here for you.

Forgive me for not giving to you directly, but I feel that this approach is much more likely to not receive a rejection from you. Big Brother tried really hard to find a proper one for you in style, color, _and _size. Not to mention that I had to go through Reiji to get this for you, so please wear it.

I know you'll look super adorable~

Love, Big Brother Raito

Figures… Raito _would_ be the first one to act in matter like these; dependable in a way. Even though he's a pervert, this is really kind of him.

Aria giggles, then taking off her current attire while thinking of how much of a good person Raito is. She slips the short dress on; knee-length, making the wounds on her legs and arms very visible. She doesn't mind this, since it _is_ a time where one may be lax.

Aria lies on her bed and covers herself with the fluffy blanket at last. She slowly closes her eyes, the warmth of the bed and the soft light of the fire in the fireplace making her wonder what dream she shall end up with tonight.

Perhaps another one from the books she read? It could also be a memory of her childhood life or a vision of the future. It may also be herself in her wonderland. Maybe something else awaits her?

The sister of the Sakamaki siblings drifts off to sleep, not having a clue about the horrible dream that awaits her.


	8. Chapter 8

Sakamaki Sister

"_Have you heard? That child's parents won't pick her up, ever_"

Stop…

"_Where are your parents? You poor little girl…_"

Don't say that…

"_You don't deserve to live. Your parents already abandoned you, so why bother?_"

Will you just stop...?

"_Die already! There's no need for you to live anymore!_"

Stop it…

"_Burn in hell you useless girl!_"

Please…

…

"_Welcome_"

Huh…?

Aria slowly opens her eyes; a bit teary. She sits up and rubs her eyes, her eyes still letting out small drops of tears. She sighs.

"I need to wash my face…" she says to no one.

Her form pulls itself away from the blankets, but then something seems to be holding her in place. Aria looks to her side to see a peacefully sleeping Raito.

"Eh… Brother…?" Aria questions herself.

She tries to slowly slip away from his strong grasp, but he just holds her tighter. Then she attempts to lift his arms from her body; but also no success. Finally, she gives up trying to get away silently and goes for the direct approach; waking him up.

"Brother, wake up" she whispers softly while poking Raito's cheek.

Her hand then starts shaking his shoulder softly, not wanting him to wake up with any _brutality_. Still, he doesn't seem to show any signs of waking up, so Aria pinches his cheek. His soft skin makes her remember what she was like before the _incident_. Her eyes become soulless at the memory.

"Aria, what's wrong?" Raito's voice appears suddenly.

Said female looks down at her now awake brother; her hand still on his cheek. Her cheeks start to gain the color of strawberries; she then takes her hand off of Raito's pale cheek. Raito's eyes suddenly widen, he then grabs Aria's left hand; the one that was on his cheek. He then inspects then scar on her wrist, his slender fingers gently tracing over the faint remains of a knife wound.

"Explain this" his emerald eyes glare sharply at Aria's red ones.

Aria's expression visibly tenses up; her eyes widening, sweat trickling down her pale face, her mouth slightly agape, and hands trembling.

"It... I got it in an accident" Aria lies.

Sadly to her, Raito knows that she's lying. His glare sharpens even more as his hand grips her smaller one tighter.

"Don't lie to Big Brother. He knows when Aria is lying to him" he says darkly, but a hint of sadness also tainting his voice.

Aria winces at his grip, her already injured hand feels like it's about to break any moment. She _did_ try to free her hand by pulling it, but Raito's strong grip makes it hurt more.

"… I… Caused them… I tried to commit suicide, alright? Even if I _knew _that it wouldn't work" Aria slumps her head down; shame on her.

To this point, Aria either expects a hit for being so oblivious of her own life or laughter for being such an idiot; maybe both. But instead, Raito lets go of Aria's hand and he pulls her to him; causing Aria to forcibly fall to Raito's torso.

He then proceeds with gently holding her within his arms; hugging her. Raito then buries his face to Aria's silky, stainless white locks. He then runs his hand through her hair; as if comforting her.

"Don't do that, okay? Aria's too cute to have injuries like that, and that makes Big Brother worried. But Big Brother won't tell anyone, alright?" he says in a caring voice; smiling sweetly.

Aria is **really** taken aback by this; this is the first time someone has ever held her like this. So she enjoys the moment and relaxes in Raito's embrace.

"Oh, I forgot to tell. A package filled with your clothes arrived when you were sleeping" Raito says, looking at Aria.

"Eh… What time is it now?" She asks.

"About one in the afternoon" Raito giggles.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Aria asks again; almost shouting because how late the day already is.

"Aria's face when she was sleeping was too cute, Big Brother didn't want to ruin the precious moment; so he slept with Aria instead" Raito gives out another smile.

"Ok then, whatever you say" Aria brushes the matter off.

Raito lets go from Aria and hops off the bed.

"Another thing, school will start at about six. So be ready by then" Raito leaves the room.

Aria gets off the bed and looks out to the front garden through the crystal-like window; tracing her fingers along her left wrist. She was lucky that Raito only found out about that one, Kanato found out the one on her upper right arm, for now.

To the brothers and Yui, Aria might seem to be a polite, kind, and fragile vampire. But underneath that massive layer of long white hair, hides a heavy burden of her past.

Meanwhile, Raito is remembering about the time when he entered her room; teleported, to be exact. Aria was crying and mumbling in her sleep, so he decided to comfort her by sleeping with her. Now, he can't stop asking himself about why Aria _did_ become like that, even in sleep. He thinks deeply; trying to find any possible answers, but none is found.

His pace quickens a bit, still thinking.

"Oh, I know. I'll give her something, maybe that'll cheer her up~!" Raito hums happily at his idea.

He strides to his room to prepare for school; excited about his plan to lift up the spirit of the previously weeping Aria.


	9. Chapter 9

Sakamaki Sister

Aria views the velvet orange sky; sunset. She lets out a heavy sigh and goes to the bathroom. It's about time to have a bath; the fatigue from yesterday is still there; so perhaps a nice warm bath will ease her.

She slowly slips off the dress; exposing her frail, petite body. The mirror that's in front of her reflects her true self; a broken girl with multiple injuries. Her gaze then averts to the large bathtub with gold colored legs, where she will take care of her hygienic needs.

Her legs walk her over to the bathtub, and her hands turn the tap to let the soothing warm water flow out. Red eyes look at the clear water, reminding her own self that she's free of her _tainted_ days. Aria inhales the scent of water, and then dips herself into the bathtub.

Her body immediately relaxes at the contact with the warm water; her muscles relaxing, her stress fading away, and her expression of peace. She lifts up her leg to the side of the bathtub, a sad expression then crosses her. The memories of _those_ days seem to still linger.

She shakes her head and submerges her leg back into the water. Her hand then picks up a bottle of soap, pouring an acceptable to her hand, and runs her soapy hands all over her body. She then shampoos her **very** long hair; which has already passed her knees. She hasn't cut it for fifteen years, and her vampire genes seems to have sped up the growth of her hair; but not her height – Aria's about as tall as Yui's shoulders – and so that makes her very short compared to other people her age.

Aria gets out of the bathtub and wraps herself with a soft, white towel. She then goes over to the sink to brush her teeth. While doing so, her mind floats off somewhere else; making her hand pause every now and then, but she still manages to finish quickly.

She then steps out of the bathroom; still using only a towel. She eyes the alarm clock on her bedside table; one past forty-five, she still has plenty of time before she and the others go to school.

Aria – as she was in the hospital during most of her life – has never experienced school before. The nurses usually tell her about the outside and teach her some subject which they learned at school; may it be normal or medical studies.

She always found learning as… Interesting, even though she knows most people find this interest of hers is odd. But she can't help it; she's always been so curious about the world beyond the walls of her room, the closest she got to the outside world back then was the entrance gate of the hospital.

But now, she's _really_ outside. The scent of the slightly polluted outside air made her cough a lot at first, but then she got used to it. Then there's the feel of walking on asphalt, soil, cement, sand, and other forms of walkable surface. During her first time outside – on the way to the Sakamaki mansion – Aria catches fancy on some snack items; takoyaki, they call it. Aria bought some and proceeded her way to the mansion.

She admits that it was a fun experience; being able to feel the world that she has longed for. Aria lets out a happy sigh, and walks over to the rather large package located near her bed; where her attires are.

"Everything seems to be here" Aria mumbles to herself.

Aria then goes over to her bed; where her school uniform is located; just as she hoped it would be. To her, the uniform seems quite adorable; black colored blazer with white buttoned cuffs, black skirt with white frills underneath, black butler-like vest, white button shirt, and finally a small pinkish ribbon overlapping a larger white ribbon on the chest area.

She has seen Yui wore this before, with black shoes and black thigh-high socks. It seems normal to others, but to Aria, it's a tad too revealing; so she'll wear black stockings instead. She owns many stockings; most of them mainly colored black and white, so wearing one or two each day won't really decrease her other spares. She's been wearing stockings ever since her first moth after her tenth birthday; the start of her _momentary_ hell.

"Ah… Enough of this" Aria shakes her head and grabs the uniform.

She slips on the seemingly complicated uniform and looks at herself in the mirror, to herself, she looks… Presentable; just that her hair is a bit unsightly, the too wavy hair makes it seem as if she just woke up and didn't mend it.

Aria's hand then touches the mirror, looking intently at her reflection. For now, she seems stable, but not sure for how long.

She then packs her things into a bag that was located near her uniform; writing tools, her sketchbook, notebooks, a novel, and a small carton of milk that was sent with the package. She's all set for her _first_ day of school; how exciting.

She picks up her bag and looks in the mirror once more; good to go. And then she gingerly walks downstairs, while searching for her brothers or Yui.

Surprisingly, she finds Ayato spacing out at the bottom of the staircase. He doesn't seem to notice Aria's presence, so she calls out to him.

"Brother?" she slowly descends down the stairs.

Ayato doesn't show any signs of surprise at his name being called, and just casually turns around to see his sister.

"What? And call me Yours Truly" he says, annoyed at Aria's choice of words.

"I beg your forgiveness, Yours Truly. But may I ask of why are you so early in wearing your school attire? Yours Truly doesn't seem to be the kind of person to do so at such hours" Aria asks; giving a small bow.

Ayato smirks as he is amused by Aria's obedient actions; unlike Yui, but Aria seems to be rather meek, giving him a tad sense of boredom for her.


	10. Chapter 10

So here it is all, the tenth chapter! yayyyy *claps n gives u all cookies*  
I'm actually quite surprised that I made it all this way, but all my respect and credit goes to the awesome readers~ Thanks for all the support, u all so kind with meeeeee *crais*  
Now then, to all of you, I would like to announce that I have good and bad news:  
Good news is that I already have the story layout IN DETAIL with some illustrations and concepts, so I hope that this will help me and you go through the story better  
Bad news is that I got a... Disappointing score on my report card, so I'll be spending most of my time studying, BUT I'LL TRY TO UPDATE :'DDDDDD huehuehue

That's all for now  
Any questions, please PM me or do so in the review if ur too lazy - no offense there .w.)/  
Requests are acceptable, but I THINK I'll make slow progress :'C Gomen...  
Spoilers... I'll only give to those who wants to  
And finally, I LOVE U ALL SO MUCH! *air hug because I know I can't reach u*

Have a nice time reading this chapter!  
ER_0R

* * *

Sakamaki Sister

Aria hops down the final set of stairs; now in front of her brother. She then looks at his uniform; a bit messy and careless, as seen from the unbuttoned shirt and the improperly used tie.

The look in Ayato's green eyes tell that he doesn't want his attire to be messed with, so Aria just left his uniform be; even though she wanted to fix it for him.

"Yours Truly is trying to void any lectures from Reiji, so he's starting off early" Ayato says, then yawns; he seems to lack rest.

"Are you tired?" Aria asks bluntly.

Ayato shakes his head; but his next yawn proves that he _does_ lack rest.

Aria shakes her head in disagreement and sits down next to him. She then puts her bag next to her and pats her lap.

"Yours Truly may use my lap as a pillow if he wants to" she says, not a hint of hesitation felt in her voice.

Ayato raises his eyebrow at this; but he sits down and rests hi head on Aria's lap anyways. Aria then starts to brush the misplaced strands of Ayato's hair back in place. The color of his hair is like the burning flames of a softly lit fire… At that thought, Aria tenses up and pauses in the middle of fixing her brother's hair. Ayato notices the sudden change in Aria's movements.

"Is something bothering you? You just stopped when it felt so nice" Ayato states, his demanding green eyes cutting through Aria's blood red ones.

"N-No, it's nothing. Forgive me" Aria says softly, continuing to brush Ayato's hair with her petite, pale hand.

This continues on until Ayato is soundly asleep on Aria's lap. A peaceful sigh escapes Aria's lips as she views the rather childish look on her brother's sleeping face. She then runs her small finger along Ayato's cheek; making him grunt softly at the tiny disturbance of his slumber.

Soon, Aria falls asleep as well; her head leading forward, right above Ayato's face. They both sleep peacefully at the last staircase together; with nobody passing through their location, luckily.

A bit later; at four o'clock, Ayato wakes up. He then adjusts his eyes from the blurriness, rubbing his eyes too. Once his eyes are at focus, he sees a perfect view of Aria's sleeping face.

He slowly sits up; not wanting to awake Aria, and rests her head on his shoulder. Ayato's hand holds dear of Aria's small head; brushing her very wavy hair every now and then. His hand just easily slips through her silk-like hair; making him think that she's very easy to lose, but he won't let her go _that _easily, because her finds her rather interesting for a sister.

Ayato then tilts his face towards Aria's direction; viewing her facial features once more.

"You _do_ seem kind of cute" Ayato whispers.

He then takes hold of Aria's face and pulls her still sleeping form towards him; kissing her cheek. Ayato then puts Aria on his lap, then continuing to brush her hair. He keeps doing so until Aria lets out a tiny grunt.

"Awake now?" Ayato asks, resting his head on Aria's shoulders.

Aria rubs her eyes, then letting out a cute little yawn; making Ayato want to _attack_ her, but he tries to restrain doing so. Aria blinks her eyes to adjust the blurriness. After her eyes finally adjust to the color of sunset, she feels that she's sitting on something soft. She looks down.

"W… Why am I on Yours Truly's lap?" Aria stutters while asking.

"Don't question Yours Truly like that. Yours Truly can do anything he wants" Ayato states; his voice annoyed.

Aria then quickly gets off Ayato; for the reason of that she thinks of sitting on her brothers' laps seem impolite, and something else…

"Ayato, Aria. It's time to go" Reiji's voice is heard.

He passes by them and looks at Aria with his piercing garnet eyes; making her slightly wince in fear, luckily for her, this goes by unnoticed. Ayato stands up and goes to the main entrance, Aria too, after grabbing her bag.

Her shoes making soft clicking noise as she runs to catch up with Ayato; while getting away from Reiji too. When she's at the same pace with Ayato, he pats her head caringly; making her blush a little.

Soon, her other brothers and Yui joins them to the limousine that's awaiting them outside the gate. They all go in quietly; going to their favorite places. Aria gets to be seated between Reiji and the window; which she's not quite comfortable in.

Aria keeps shifting on her seat; impatiently waiting for the limousine to finally reach the school's gates. Reiji notices her movements, but decides to keep quiet for the sake of not furthering her discomfort.

The trip is quiet enough; except for Ayato who keeps teasing Yui with the nickname '_Pancake_'. But the others seem to be in order; not saying a single thing. This causes Aria to wonder if they _really are _brothers, or if they share a dark past, or something of the sort.

Her blood-red eyes scan each of them; Yui seems to be bearing with Ayato's teasing, Ayato teasing Yui, Shu sleeping and listening to his music, Kanato playing with Teddy, Subaru just looking at the window across him, Reiji reading a book, and finally Aria who's still shifting slightly.

To her pleasing, the limousine finally takes a halt. Aria opens the door and hops out of the vehicle. She then views the enormous building; truly a school for the rich and famous. Aria then thinks back; _what if they don't like her_? She's never the one to be confident of herself, let it be skill or looks, so she stands there to wait for the others to get out.

When they do, she lets them go in first; letting herself follow behind, head down. Yui; who also happens to be the last to follow the boys, notices Aria's change, so she decides to comfort her.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just look for me if you need any help, alright?" Yui smiles at the slightly ashen spirit of Aria's.

Aria gives a curt nod; sensing the pure good intentions of Yui.


	11. Chapter 11

Sakamaki Sister

They all go inside the colossal building called a school. Aria's brothers and Yui then go their separate ways; leaving Aria alone, unsure of where to go.

"Come with me" an annoyed voice calls out; Subaru's.

Aria turns around to see Subaru go the opposite way; unlike the others. She follows Subaru with small, shy steps; true for someone's literal _first_ day of school.

They walk for a bit, Subaru then stops, making Aria bump into his back. Subaru clicks his tongue in annoyance; all that Aria can do now is look down.

The taller male walks into class; to his seat. But the smaller female just stands there; looking around the room that's likely to be called a classroom. Her eyes shift through the entire class, stopping her sight here and there; wondering of the uses of those items. Some of the people also manage to catch her attention.

"Hey, you new here?" A foreign male voice asks from behind Aria.

She quickly turns around to see male student, taller than her, probably taller than Yui. Aria looks down and nods shyly. The male student then pats her back.

"Don't worry; a lot of people are nice here. Like me!" He laughs, ruffling Aria's hair.

She nods and eyes him as he makes his way to his desk, and then sitting down. A bit away from him; Aria sees Subaru looking out to the dark evening sky, then a perky girl comes up to him. The blonde woman's voice rings a tad bit _too_ familiar to Aria; but can't put an exact guess to it.

That blonde starts to chatter along to Subaru, or more of annoying him. Her pink streaked blonde hair straight and neat, her face also adorned with soft colored makeup. She keeps on chattering; ignoring the fact that Subaru is _obviously_ annoyed by this.

Then the bell rings, she says her goodbye and goes for her seat; around the front.

"Alright class, today we'll be having a new student. Please be nice to her, because her health is quite… Sensitive" the teacher signals Aria to come in; and she does so.

She enters slowly, then stopping near the teacher. She looks about the class; eyeing each student.

"A-Aria… Sakamaki Aria" she gives out a small bow; nothing else to say

"A member of the Sakamaki family, correct? Well then, you shall next to him. Subaru, I do hope that you assist your sibling in fitting in. Now make sure you're all quiet while waiting for your next teacher" the teacher leaves, and the class booms into audible volume as Aria motions to her assigned seat; next to Subaru.

"_Isn't she a bit short to be here?_"

"_Massive hair too_"

"_She's cute_"

"_Does she adore_ _Subaru-San __**that**__ much to the point she copied his hairstyle?_"

Aria ignores all their words and sits down on her seat, then proceeding to take out her drawing tools and her sketchbook. She then continues something to what seems to be herself wearing the school's uniform and holding a bouquet; smiling.

She draws quietly; her eyes calmly fixated on the pencil's tip. Her hand glides smoothly through the paper, leaving behind a trail of sketches. She also frequently grabs the eraser for use to every mistake she makes; also resulting in a few smudges here and there. Aria then nods and grabs her drawing pen to retrace the lines, making her drawing look more _professional._

Aria's head nods in approval; looking at the completed drawing. Right at that moment, the teacher enters the class. Aria puts all her things in her bag, then taking out her notebook; ready to study.

She takes a quick glance at her brother; who is looking at the window. An invisible smile cracks on Aria's face, and she looks front. Her hand quickly writing notes of what seems to be needed; some doodles here and there too.

The classes go by smoothly with Aria intently taking notes; sometimes glancing at Subaru too. She understands nearly everything quickly, but most of the subjects just float away to the air. When she's bored, she draws or writes a poem.

So far, her favorite lessons are English and history. It's a bit odd that she likes history; to the fact that the rest of the class dislikes it. But to her, the lesson contains interesting and deep meaning to the minor subjects behind it.

The bell rings again; signaling break time. The others go out the class in a hurry, for what Aria suspects is to reunite with their friends that are in a different class or to simply flee from the teacher's harsh gaze.

Aria looks at Subaru's seat; where the owner of that seating arrangement is about to get up. He then leaves the class without taking a single glimpse at Aria's direction. To this, she stretches out a hand to grab his uniform, but then retorts as she knows it's not a very good idea to do so without a logical reason.

As soon as Subaru is out of sight, Aria sighs and slumps down her seat; looking at the now dark sky.

"So you're his sister huh?" A familiar male voice rings out.

Aria looks in front of her to see the male student who greeted her before. She just nods.

"That's so cool! You know, I idolize him. He's **such** a good athlete! From what I heard, he managed to break a wall with one punch! Isn't that amazing?" He chirps; his brown hair bouncing along the movements of his laughter, his bright brown eyes showing pure admiration.

"He did? I guess that's acceptable to be considered as amazing, but it still frightens me a bit" Aria smiles at the thought.

The male student just stares at Aria; confused.

"You're language is so polite, how come? I mean, it's not exactly the Middle Ages here" he rests his elbow on Aria's table.

"Oh, I realize that. It's just that I'm already accustomed to this speaking behavior, forgive me id it's to your distaste" Aria giggles nervously.

"I see. But no need to be _that _formal in front of me, we're friends" he smiles.

Aria is a bit taken aback by this; _so quick in becoming friends_. But she smiles anyways, making the boy in front of him blush slightly.

"That's right, I haven't got your name yet" Aria says; smiling happily.

"Sakurami Aidou. Really pleased to meet you, Aria-Chan" Aidou pats Aria's head.

… _Chan_…


	12. Chapter 12

Alright, so I got this question, and I decided to answer it here so that it's clear to all u wonderful readers

Aria is fifteen  
And the reason behind her not interested in any blood sucking is that because she spent literally most of her life in a hospital; where vampires aren't inhabiting in  
Therefore, Aria has been adapted to live without having to drink any blood

Now then, this also relates to the previous scene a few chapters before (chap 3) when Reiji was drinking Yui's blood (BY THE WAY, chap three's content on episode five was only a small filler because I feel like it lolz. AND SO, the other chapters after that one DOES NOT follow the anime series nor the game orz gomen)  
After Aria saw what vampires are capable of, she's been quite traumatize, but will soon get used to it

Again, BUT, since I know that my fans (*cheer cheer*) just **adores** vampire actions  
_Something_ **will** happen to Aria during a full moon (spoiler?)

I hope that pleases your curiosity  
Sayonara!  
ER_0R

* * *

Sakamaki Sister

A few minutes fly by as Aria and Aidou are chatting. Soon enough, Subaru enters the classroom again, and then he sits back on his seat. Aria _wanted_ to ask him how his break was, but a certain blonde stops her by helping herself to stand between the two siblings.

Aria just stays quiet; not wanting to disrupt the other girl's ranting. _Who is she_? As Aria is thinking this, Aidou signal her to go out the class; she does so, curious of his intentions.

"I see that you noticed her" Aidou's face crumples up in disgust.

"Who is she, if I may ask?" Aria tilts her head.

"She's Alyssia Gwendeline, a transfer student from America. Ever since she came here, nearly everyone is acting nuts; in a creepy way. She's got a crush on Subaru, and she will do _anything_, and I mean **anything** to get him" he whispers; hoping that the girl named Alyssia did not hear him.

Aria wonders about said girl; who's currently chattering away without earning Subaru's interest. It's very obvious though; Subaru's just looking at the night sky while Alyssia talks to someone who's not even listening.

The bell then rings again; signaling that break time is over. Everyone quickly go to their seats as the next teacher arrives, Aria glances one more time at Subaru's seat; only to see him give her a side glance. Aria quickly snaps her head back to front; fidgeting with her pencil.

She then soon realizes that the lesson is math; she's never really been very fond of it, and it's quite a challenge for her to fully understand the concept of numerical processes. Instead, she draws again.

Her hand grips the pencil lightly; making the lines less visible. Starting out with messy sketches, then she makes the lines thicker to tell apart the sketches and the _real_ drawing. Next, she erases all the sketches; leaving a clean, viewable drawing. And then finally, she inks it using a drawing pen; careful to not go out of line. As she views it, it seems to be missing color, so Aria decides to shade it.

When she's _finally_ done, the artwork she did is a picture of Subaru; his face void of anything but annoyance. This somehow gives Aria a warm feeling, even though Subaru's emotion never changes.

Aria keeps on drawing through the boring lessons, she manages to draw Yui, Shu, and a cat. The bell then rings for the last time today; it's time to go home, at around midnight. She packs all her things carefully; not wanting to drop anything.

As she stands up to leave, the one named Alyssia also stands up and walks towards Aria. Subaru has already left; in a hurry, it seems.

"_Greetings_, Aria-San" Alyssia greets her coldly.

"Ah, pleased to make your acquaintance. Miss Gwendeline, am I correct?" Aria greets with a warmer tone.

Alyssia then circles around the white haired girl; viewing her from head to feet.

"Not bad, for a starter" Alyssia smirks.

Aria just looks at her; _what_? The look in Aria's face shows a great deal of confusion to Alyssia's eyes, making her laugh wickedly.

"Don't pretend you don't know. I _know_ that you're copying **my**Subaru's look, to get his attention, right?" Alyssia sneers.

"I don't… This is my _natural_ look, if that information comforts your thoughts" Aria says; defending herself as best she can.

Again, Alyssia laughs; making Aria shift uncomfortably.

"And also, Brother is **not** yours; he does **not** belong to anyone" Aria states.

Alyssia is _very_ taken aback by Aria's strong statement.

"You little" Alyssia raises her hand to hit her.

Good timing, Yui comes into her class.

"Aria, it's time to go now. Hurry, hurry" Yui smiles; not aware of what Alyssia was about to do.

To this, Alyssia puts her hand down and scoffs.

"Soon, peasant" Alyssia walks away confidently.

Behind the blonde, there follows another female with black hair and glasses; who gave Aria a glare – much like Reiji's – before leaving.

"Who was that?" Yui asks from the class door.

Aria just shakes her head and walks over to Yui, and then they both walk to where all her six brothers are impatiently waiting. Ayato is the first to react by playfully scolding her, then Raito continues by giving her a hug and telling Ayato that he's being too mean to _poor little Aria_. Reiji then tells her that time is sufficient to hold every job perfectly, and finally Shu says that we should hurry up so he can get back to sleep; Aria giggles at this, _what a nice family I have_.

The limousine quickly arrives back at the mansion. Aria steps out first since she's closest to the window. As she walks to the mansion's door, she wonders about Alyssia and the girl that she was with. The others just walk casually, all except for Subaru; who seems to be in deep thought.

Aria skips happily to her room for some reason; maybe she's happy because she finally got some _real_ education? On the other hand, Subaru goes to his room sluggishly. He opens his door, his room quite messy.

He sits himself on a wooden chair, his elbow propped on the desk in front of him. He rests his chin on his palm; sighing harshly. He remembers the time when Richter came for a visit.

"What power? What did he mean by that? And… Did mother _really_ love her more than me?" he questions himself.

He tries his best to come up with a conclusion to all his questions; but sadly, all seems illogical to him. Another sigh escapes his lips, he then walks over to his coffin and lies down. Using his arms as a pillow for his head; he views the empty ceiling.

His blood-red eyes stare at the ceiling; as if an answer would suddenly appear there. After a few more minutes, his eyes close.

_Who lied…?_

_Who is she exactly...?_

_Why…?_


	13. Chapter 13

Sakamaki Sister

The whole mansion isn't very lively at this hour; everyone seems to be doing their own businesses. At this moment, Aria is in her room, taking out all the things from the package earlier and putting them in the wardrobe.

The package doesn't only contain clothing, but also a few items as well. She arranges all the needed items on her desk, some on the fireplace. Then something that she misses greatly comes in view; a chestnut colored music box.

She got it from her father right as she got out of the hospital. He said that it's a parting gift from her mother, when she died in the _accident_. He also said that the music box was especially made for Aria; it's the only one in the world.

Aria puts the music box on the bedside table; just in case. She then proceeds to take out and arrange all her things.

After about an hour, Aria finally finishes; now her room is more to her liking. She puts away the large cardboard box that was used for the package. Another glance at her room, she sighs triumphantly.

Her tired self lies on the bed, spreading her limbs as if making a snow angle. She rolls around her bed; making her hair tangle. Being in her room alone, she ignores the messy bundle of white.

But soon enough, she feels tired and bored. Lifting up her messy haired head, she decides to go for a walk around the mansion. She slowly opens the door and walks out; worrying about nothing related to her messy hair.

Aria's small feet take her around the second floor of the mansion; not even sure of where to go. She just enjoys the trip around the large mansion in peace.

"Oh, look at that, Teddy. Sister's hair is really messy" Kanato's voice suddenly sounds from behind her.

Aria spins around; and is now looking at a sweet smiling Kanato, holding Teddy as usual.

"Forgive me, Brother" she bows.

Kanato shakes his head and pulls up Aria's face; making her look at him directly to his eyes. He examines her face intently; capturing every little detail.

"You would make an excellent model" Kanato mumbles to himself.

"Excuse me?" Aria questions him.

Kanato ignores her question and drags her to somewhere only he knows. They walk around for quite some time. Then Kanato stops in front of a door, he opens it and pulls Aria inside.

Aria looks around the room to see that there are numerous amounts of female wax dolls; all wearing wedding gowns. Her red eyes look at the dolls attire; very pretty.

"Brother…?" Aria looks at Kanato who's approaching her with a needle in hand.

"I'll be nice again and not turn your skin into wax. You're very cute, you know that? It's just that I don't find anything interesting in your daily attire, so I'll make a dress for you. A **very** beautiful dress" he says as he steps closer to the shorter girl.

Kanato then circles around Aria; making sure to get all her measurements, _even by looking at me, he's able to do such a thing_? Aria just stands still, sometimes moving if she gets uncomfortable with Kanato's angle of view.

Once he's done, he orders Aria to sit on the couch nearby; she does so. Her eyes look around the room once more, sometimes at Kanato; who's working on a black chiffon dress. Aria sits on the couch silently, looking back to Kanato once in a while.

Soon enough, she falls asleep.

Kanato stays up and continues his work; the dress for Aria, his smile never disappearing from his face. He looks at the couch and sees Aria sleeping soundly. His hand grabs a layer of unused material and uses it a blanket to cover the fragile body of his sister, and he goes back to work.

"_Are you going to Scarborough Fair~?_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme~_

_Remember me, to one who live-" _Kanato stops singing as the scissors he's holding cuts his finger.

"Teddy, do you think that Aria-Chan will look cute in this dress?" he asks Teddy.

…

"I agree to, but you'll always look the cutest to me" he smiles, and then continues on the dress.

Kanato finally finishes the plain form of the chiffon dress; now to add some decorations.

"Roses or ribbons?" he wonders to himself.

He rummages through all the items he usually uses for dress decorations. There isn't much; he used most of them for the white dresses – the ones for the wax dolls. A scowl forms on his previous happy face; and he searches harder.

In the end, he only found three medium sized roses colored black, four small roses colored white, a large ribbon colored white, and two small ribbons colored black.

"I guess these will do" he goes over to a mannequin; where Aria's dress is.

He takes his needle and starts putting on the decorations. He gets creative and makes something to make Aria's hair look more in place. While he's doing this, he pictures his adorable sister wearing the dress, he giggles.

"Absolutely precious"


	14. Chapter 14

Sakamaki Sister

"Sister, I'm done with the dress" Kanato gently shakes Aria's shoulder.

Aria grunts in response, and then slowly opens her eyes. She blinks a few times; adjusting her eyes to the not so well lit room. Once she's fully awake, she gives Kanato a smile.

"May I see it?" she asks politely.

Kanato nods and pushes the mannequin to her. Aria looks at the dress; amazed. The decorations are perfectly placed, the material showing many hints of elegance, the colors matches perfectly, and the smallest details stitched perfectly into place.

Her eyes flicker to her brother's form; her eyes sparkling in amazement. Her smile fades when she realizes something.

"Bother, I really, **truly** do appreciate your magnificent work. But is something like _this_ really fitting for me?" she looks at Kanato.

"Do not question my works, Sister. I made this dress especially for you" Kanato's expression hardens a bit.

Aria looks at the dress again; a bit sad. But she nods and touches the dress, the complication of its arrangement making her wonder how her brother managed to do such a thing.

"Hurry up and wear it, there's a spare storage room around the back, use that room" Kanato orders.

Aria nods, takes the dress, and heads over to the room where Kanato pointed out. She opens the door and enters the dimly lit room. Once in, she takes off her daily attire and change into the dress. However, she isn't very familiar with these types of clothing; so she asks for help.

"Brother, I need help" Aria speaks through the small creek from the door.

He shrugs, sighs, and goes to where Aria is. Kanato assists Aria while she sits silently on a stool; blushing a little. Through what she feels, the dress seems to be complicated; intricately stitched to place.

Aria waits for her brother to finish; the tightness of her torso making it quite difficult to breathe, the layers of the dress seemingly heavy for her, and her brother adjusting her hair. The brush he's using has a soft feel to it, resulting no damage to Aria's soft hair.

Kanato then puts the head ornament on her head, and then fixing her misplaced strands once more. Finally, he pulls away and puts a large mirror in front of Aria.

She gasps at the sight of her wearing the dress. Her skin seems to give out a lighter radiance with the dark color of the dress and her form looks more elegant. Aria turns around and gives Kanato a hug; almost sending them to tumble down.

"It's beautiful" she whispers.

Kanato hugs back; too tight for Aria's comfort though.

"Aria-Chan… Something caught my attention when I was arranging your hair. A carving of a six-edged star on your right shoulder blade…" he says grimly; tightening his grip on Aria.

Her eyes widen in shock. _How did he…_?

"It's nothing; it's just a minor _accident_. That-" Aria tries to say, but is cut off by Kanato.

"Don't you **dare** lie to me! That's clearly** not** an accident!" he shouts, looking at Aria's crestfallen eyes.

"Tell the truth to Big Brother, who would dare injure **my** sister~?" he says in a tune, gripping Aria's wrist tightly.

She winches as tries to pull away. But alas – as she predicts – he's strength defeats Aria's by a thousand folds.

"Ka-Kanato, it hurts" she starts to shed some tears.

He realizes what he has done and releases her wrist. He then leans and rests his head on the crook of Aria's neck.

"It's alright… If I find them, I'll **make sure** to let them know who you are. What kind of brother you're with. What your brother can **really** do to them. So don't worry, I'll always protect you. Because you're **my** sister; my very cute sister indeed" he wipes Aria's tears away; smiling.

Aria nods and hugs Kanato again. They both share a warm hug for a few minutes. Then suddenly, Kanato lifts up Aria and spins her around; laughing.

"Aria is really cute!" he nuzzles her cheek; making her blush bright red.

She then pushes Kanato away playfully, and then twirls while giggling happily; making her dress sway too.

Kanato smirks and grabs her waist, and then spins her around. After a good time playing around, he lets her down.

They both fill the room with their echoing laughter.

"Don't forget okay? Aria-Chan is my cute little sister" he gives a light kiss on Aria's cheek.

She blushes a deep red color, her face **really** warm, and her expression making Kanato giggle more.

Kanato then hugs her lovingly; they seem closer. He then plays around with Aria's messy hair; fixing any massive damages too.

"Kanato… Is also cute" she smiles; pink still tainting her cheeks.

…

_Eh…_


	15. Chapter 15

Hey all~!  
I really appreciate all my readers who has supported me all the way up to here  
And I am **very** sorry for the late update; I've been busy *bows*

There's a large possibility that I won't update chapters as quickly anymore, considering my daily schedule and some writer's block ^^"  
But I'll try to not reach a week for an update haha

*gives u all sweets*  
Kanato : DON'T STEAL MY SWEETS!? *stabs _author_ with a fork*  
Me : OUCH! I THOUGHT WE WERE _FAMILY! _T A T  
A-anyways, enjoy this chapter~!  
bai baiiii

ER_0R

* * *

Sakamaki Sister

After that event, Aria wears her normal attire again and leaves the room. She continues to wander around for some time, she occasionally looks out the window to hear steady downpour. Her small fingers make contact with the cold window, the sky pitch black; only the moon is in sight.

She walks slowly to her room; almost dragging her feet. A tiny smile still plastered on her lips from the touching kindness of her violet brother, Kanato.

"Oh~! Aria-Chan!" someone suddenly hugs said female from behind.

Raito rubs his cheek against Aria's. She giggles and playfully pushes Raito away, then fixing any crooks or folds on her clothing.

"What brings you here at dead of night, Brother?" she smiles.

"Is it wrong?" he asks innocently.

Aria laughs a bit and shakes her head. She bids farewell to him; walking away. But with swift movements; Raito grabs Aria's waist and holds her close. His head then rests on Aria's small shoulder.

The far smaller girl just stands there. Raito then lifts up Aria to his shoulder; letting her sit there. Being clueless, she just sits there wondering. Her brother giggles mischievously and walks down the stairs; the clicking of his shoes echoing through the spacious mansion.

"Where are we going?" Aria asks softly.

"You'll know soon" Raito keeps descending down the stairs.

They both end up in the living room; where some cards are set. Raito sets Aria down on a couch, he then takes the cards and shows them to her. On instinct; Aria takes one of them, the white one.

She opens it and reads the text.

**To you, my darling sister**

**I have set up a small game for you, try to win!**

**This game is simple~**

**Just follow the "riddles" on the cards that you will come by to go to the next card**

**The prize if you win is… A secret~!**

**Your first challenge is:**

**A place where not even Kanato can reach even if he really wants to eat**

Aria looks at Raito; and he gives her a wink.

"Good luck" he chuckles and strides away.

The white haired girl now sits alone in the living room, the dim light illuminating the room her only hope for finding her way around on the dark blanket of the night sky. She sighs and cracks an underestimating smile.

"He thinks that he can challenge me in this? We'll see, Brother" Aria stands up and walks to where she thinks the answer is.

_Someplace where Brother Kanato cannot reach_

_Judging from his height, it must be somewhere quite high_

_Even if he really wants to eat_

_He loves sweets, so maybe it's in the kitchen_

Her light footsteps end at the kitchen. She searches the high places; cupboards, the fridge, the window frame, and the shelves. To her luck, she finds a cookie jar with nothing but a note in it. She _attempts_ to reach for it; but her height – which is obviously shorter than Kanato – seizes her actions, so she uses the assistance of a stool.

Aria's hand grabs the jar and opens the lid, and then grabs the note. She gently sets the jar back to its _honorable_ place, a soft thud is then resounds as ash hops down from the stool. And she opens the note.

**Good job on the first one!**

**Now for the second~**

**Reiji loves tableware doesn't he?**

**Guess which one has the next note**

**I dare you!**

_Is he serious…?_

Aria paces around the kitchen; her shoe making small clicking sounds, the mere thought of infiltrating Reiji's room sending shivers down the spine. She groans and rubs her forehead with her index finger.

Getting into his room is one thing, thinking up an excuse is just **way** far off. She thinks of a way to sneak into his room, get the next note, and finally back out; also avoiding any possible mishaps.

Her steps stop at the kitchen's entrance; ready to go to Reiji's room and face any consequences. Aria walks out of the kitchen, through the void halls, and finally to her second oldest brother's door.

With a heap of hesitation, she holds the door's cold handle. The small female pushes the door with little strength, and to her _luck_, the door isn't locked. Aria snoops inside the large room, lit by some candles.

Reiji doesn't seem to be in his room at the moment, so Aria uses this chance to hurry up and find the next note. She starts off with the large shelf at one corner of the room; where Reiji bit Yui.

Her hands pull open the two shelf knobs. Her eyes then look around for the note; lifting the larger tableware and moving some of them around to see the backside.

"What are _you_ doing?" Reiji's voice sounding serious and **very **annoyed.

His younger sister turns around abruptly; almost making the tableware closest to the edge fall. Reiji's garnet eyes glares at her sharply, as if his eyes are able to emit an unlimited number of needles.

"I was just… I was curious about your hobby of collecting tableware, s-so I wanted to look at them since I didn't have anything to do. But when I got to your r-room, you weren't here. So forgive me for trespassing Big Brother's privacy" Aria looks down; _lies_.

Reiji looks down at the shivering female. He then sighs and closes the shelf's doors slowly, after that, he stares back at Aria.

"Who told you that?" he asks sharply; making Aria wince again.

"Brother Raito did, he's such a talkative _person_" Aria laughs nervously.

Reiji nods and goes over to a nearby teapot and some cups; name to which only Reiji knows.

"If that is _really_ the truth, then you don't mind sparing your time for a cup of tea, would you?"

_Tea…?_


	16. Chapter 16

Sakamaki Sister

Aria nods and sits on a velvet red couch; in front of the couch where Reiji is sitting. Her eyes are downcast, looking at the _interesting_ carpeted floor. Her hands fidget with nervousness as her brother pours a cup of tea; earl grey. The scent calms her a bit, but is still in alarm to Reiji's watchful gaze.

Reiji hands the gorgeously decorated cup to Aria's shaking hands. She holds it with care; **really** not wanting it to fall, because if it does… _Ah, forget it…_ Aria brings the cup closer to her face; ready to take a sip.

Reiji too, also brings his cup closer to him. He expects her to drink it, but it all backfires.

"Brother, weren't you told of the _proper_ flavoring method of tea?" Aria asks, putting her cup back to its saucer, then to the table.

She puts up her leg and rests it on her other, also putting her palms on her knee. Reiji's eyes go wide for a second, and is soon replaced my amusement. He sets his cup on the table too; a wide grin sticking on his face.

He fixes his spectacles and leans on the couch; his grin still plastered on.

"I must say, I did not expect you to pick up the distinguishing scent that easily" he coos.

"Have you already forgotten? You _do_ know that I spent almost my entire life in that _wretched _hospital, being surrounded by medicine and drugs has made me quite fond of distinguishing them, even in the slightest bit" Aria leans on the couch.

Reiji nods approvingly; his eyes closed in satisfaction. He then tilts his head back and gives out a sadistic heap of laughter; as if he is the devil himself. He keeps on laughing, but also trying to stop.

After loud sigh, Reiji finally calms down; regaining his gentlemanly posture. He pushes his spectacles to place and brushes his gloved fingers through his hair; fixing the _terrible_ tangles of his black hair.

He then retrieves Aria's cup; discarding the drugged tea, also his. He pours two more cups for them; not drugged this time. With a reassuring smile, he sets Aria's share of tea in front of her.

Politely, Aria picks up her cup and drinks slowly; taking in the flavor and pure scent of tea that she hasn't drank in a long while. She sighs happily as the sweet liquid satisfies her thirst. Her red eyes look at Reiji, who's currently looking at her in a proud sort of way. _Odd_…

"Aria, you _do_ so amaze me; being able to tell apart the drug and sugar with only their scents. Even _I_ am amazed by that… And so, to conclude that, I _guess_ that I _should_ be proud to call you my sister" He hums.

Aria giggles and nods happily.

"I thank you for the compliment" she says, taking another sip.

A smirk suddenly makes its way to Reiji's lips.

"But I warn you, I _will_ take this to consideration whether I shall experiment you further or not" Reiji says, setting his cup down and then looking at Aria.

Instead of intimidation, she sighs and shoots an almost sharper look at him. They both stare at each other until Reiji finally chuckles.

"Now tell me, Sister Dear, the _real_ reason of why you are here" he says.

Aria doesn't flinch at Reiji's knowledge of her lie; she _is _a terrible liar. She clears her throat and sets her cup down.

"Brother Raito _forced_ me to play a riddle game with him. If I find all the riddles, they'll lead me to a gift that he had prepared beforehand. One of the riddles is in here, sorry for barging in" Aria tilts her head down in shame.

"No worries; that insignificant pervert isn't one of my likings. So I guess I'll teach him a lesson afterwards. I'll help you look for the riddle – solve it if I must – in exchange of you telling that brat that I have some business with him" he smirks; eyes gleaming maliciously.

Aria finishes her tea and nods, then setting the cup gently on the wooden table in front of her. She sits up straight again.

"Let us make haste then, it would make me dreadful if I were to waste your time on something such as this" Aria stands up from her couch.

Reiji follows suit and gestures to the shelf where Aria was rummaging through a while ago. He carefully moves away all his _precious_ tableware; placing them on a cart not too far away. Aria assists Reiji by arranging his tableware on the cart neatly.

He keeps searching for the note that Raito hid, but so far, no luck. An annoyed sigh then leaves his lip, and he searches more frantically. His gloved hands quickly – but gently – gives the fragile items to Aria's smaller hands.

"Ah" his face brightens slightly at the sight of a crumpled note inside one of his teapots.

He gives the note to Aria; without taking interest to anything written on it. She smiles brightly and stuffs the note into her pocket. After that, she helps Reiji place his tableware back into the shelf.

"Thank you, Brother. I'll be on my way then" Aria says as she exits his room; also making a small hop.

Reiji follows her out the door. But before leaving, Aria turns back and gives him a sweet smile.

"I admire your tableware very much, would you mind sharing some information to me later?" she asks; eyes sparkling in anticipation.

Her black haired brother is _totally_ taken aback by her interest in his hobby.

"Of course, now run along and finish your little game" he pats her snow colored hair.

Aria nods and runs off again; to the main lobby, where almost everything is closer.

Reiji locks his door and sits back on the couch. He cracks an amused smirk as he sees Aria's empty cup. His hand reaches the cup, and then looks at it.

A memory then appears in his mind; the drug he used in her previous disposed tea was the same one he used on Yui, he just wanted to know if the effects are the same with a vampire.

His proper posture slowly slumps down, and he starts to laugh; the cup still in his hands.

"Aria, oh, how much you interest me. I _shall_ need to take further experiments on you soon. Especially the reason why you wince after drinking this" he says to himself.


	17. Chapter 17

I AM SO SORRY. IT. IS. LATE! *bows*  
And I dunno if it's allowed, but I feel guilty for making my lovely readers wait  
So here (Sorry if it's ugly, I got lazy)

art/Aria-Sakamaki-s-official-art-414314894

* * *

Sakamaki Sister

Her hands carefully open the already damaged note. The note in hand is crumpled and torn at some part; making this a harder task to do without creating any more damage. After about a minute, Aria finally succeeds in opening the note. She reads it slowly; the fold marks making the blue ink faded.

**I'm impressed that you managed to do that!**

**Very good!**

**Now then, I don't think this next one is challenging**

**But!**

**An octopus is a favorite to a red**

**Cheers~!**

_What does that mean_?

Aria ponders around the note's _riddle_; totally not getting the idea Raito had put within it using blue ink. Her dainty fingers under her chin, blood red eyes squinting at times.

"Let's see… Octopus is something edible; so it's probably food containing it. Then _favorite to a red_… Ayato? So Ayato likes food with octopus in it… Hmm…. Takoyaki?"

Her small eyebrow twitches at the fact that those simple words makes up into a challenging riddle. But she tries it out, anyways.

She strides along the long, dark, and eerie hallways; in search of Ayato. Her eyes dart around the dark hallway, looking back sometimes just in case someone is following her. Her small body shivers a bit from the cold of the still dreadful rain, and also the dark surroundings which forbids her to see more than a meter in front of her.

The clicking of her shoes fills the hallway with an even more _frightening_ feel. It's about five in the morning; the sun will rise soon – a rainy morning to greet the day. Aria's breath becomes shaky, so she decides to lean on a nearby window. The freezing glass touches her warm skin; making her shiver.

"I wonder when the rain will stop" she says to herself.

"When I say so" Ayato's voice rings.

Aria's eyes slowly adjust to the dark and to the sight of her brother striding along the opposite side of the hallway, a opened pack of takoyaki in hand. The fairly heated takoyaki's scent wafts around the area, making Aria feel hungry. It _has _been a good while since she last ate.

Ayato plops another one of the delicious snack into his mouth; proceeding with puffing up clouds of smoke from the heat. His sister just watches; trying to ignore her hunger.

"Oi" his index finger beckons Aria to get closer to him.

She walks to him; head tilted down by the tiniest bit.

Without her expecting it, Ayato shoves one of the round delicacies into Aria's mouth. Caught off guard, she nearly chokes on the snack.

"Good, right?" Ayato laughs, eating another one.

"I would have been if you did not suffocate me with it…!" Aria nearly shouts; choking too.

She swallows the hot, round shape of deliciousness quickly; wanting the heat to get away from her tongue. After she does, Ayato presses another one to her lips. She meekly eats it; happy that she gets to eat.

"Yours Truly is tired of standing, let's go to the living room" he says.

His hand then grabs Aria's hand; as if dragging her to the living room. Along the way, her red eyes keep staring out the window. The rain has yet to show any signs of stopping; the cold tension in the air still manages to exist within the warmly heated building.

When they reach the living room, Ayato sits on a couch and pulls Aria onto his lap.

"What the" Aria struggles to free herself from Ayato's grasp, but his strength obviously beats hers'.

He then proceeds to feed her with more takoyaki; his head now resting on the nape of her neck. Aria hopelessly submits and lets her brother do as he pleases.

His hold on her tightens, making her gasp.

"B-Brother, let me go, please" she pleads.

Ayato ignores her whines and plays around with the button of her jacket; eventually unbuttoning it. His hand the pokes the area where he _wants _to bite, his other hand sliding the jacket off, but not to the extent to where her wound is revealed.

She keeps struggling to her away, tears starting to form at the edge of her eyes. Ayato opens his mouth – revealing his sharp fangs – and gets closer to Aria's neck to bite down and suck her blood.

But right at that moment, right when Ayato **almost** had her, Aria pushes away with incredible strength; as if she was getting away from death itself. Green eyes looks at her in shock, but then closes.

Ayato smirks and takes a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, and then hands it over to Aria.

"Mr. Pervert asked me to give this to you, in change with some takoyaki. I don't get the deal here, but I'll let that slide"

"Thank you, I-" Aria is cut off.

"**But** I need you to do something for me later on, Yours Truly also needs his share" he smirks.

Aria already has a bad feeling about this, but since that is what he wishes for, the so be it. She nods.

"Come to my room when you're done, and don't make me wait; I hate that" he walks away, hands in his pockets.

Aria releases the breath that she's been holding; clutching the note close to her _heart_. With still trembling hands, she opens the note.

**Now then, since you passed Ayato, it's time for an even greater challenge!**

**I heard that Subaru is having some problems when sleeping**

**So why not help him out?**

**He's in his room**

**It'll be fine~!**

**Now go on!**

_First, Reiji. And now, this?_

She takes a deep breath and walks to where she _thinks_ his room is located; somewhere at the far corner of the long, wide, dark hallway. That feeling is still lingering around; resulting in her becoming **very** uncomfortable with her situation.

She walks slowly to Subaru's room; not wanting to make haste. She wants to arrive as late as possible, because she still feels as if Subaru isn't very fond of her.


	18. Chapter 18

HHAAAAYYYYYY  
Sooo it's 24 Nov here in GMT +8, day of my birth *woot!*  
Which is horribly near to my final exams  
So I beg forgiveness to my readers because I won't be updating any chapters in **two weeks  
***bows* gomen!

Another thing, many of u asked if the Mukami brothers will appear or not  
To ur disappointments, no  
Because I am not very familiar **yet** with them, so I've decided to make them appear in the sequel of Sakamaki Sister (which will take a loooooooooonnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggg time... *gets killed my Mukami fans* urgh..)

Again, I am so, very, truly sorry about this notice; but I still hope that u all will enjoy this chapter  
Until then~!

ER_0R

* * *

Sakamaki Sister

She stops as she reaches Subaru's door. She then knocks on the door; waiting, waiting. After a good while, nobody answers the door, so she knocks again. But again, there's no answer. She still waits; the feel of Ayato's touches still lingering.

Right as she steps away, she hears a low grunt sounds out from within the room; making Aria jolt slightly. She slowly opens the door; like Reiji's, it's not locked. The even darker room making her eyesight a bit tattered.

"Brother?" her voice shaking a bit.

Aria then steps over to the single source of light; an almost finished candle. Her fingers coil around the fairly sized candle holder, looking around the room after that. Her eyes gaze over the dark, messy room; some of the things can't even stand for long, and also the numerous cracks on the walls.

Her feet then take her around half the room, her eyes taking in the _morbid_ surroundings, her _heart _pounding, and her mind scared of her brother's may be rampage. Yet, she keeps poking around the room.

Although all seems fine, her foot then gets tripped by something; suspected as the lid of his coffin. Luckily, her hand manages to grab on to the side of the coffin. She's lucky for not completely falling; because now, her position is very _fatal_.

Her hand _is_ holding her pressure, but her face is **inches** away from Subaru's; her hair falling all over his and her faces, and the feel of Subaru's sleeping breaths to her face. This far too close position makes Aria's face involuntarily heats up.

She tries to push herself away from the coffin, but a hand grabs hers'; making her yelp.

"What are **you **doing **here**?" Subaru's voice very annoyed.

"I was j-just trying to…" Aria trails off; thinking that telling the truth might anger him more.

Subaru's grip tightens.

"To what?" his voice sounds louder than before.

"I um… I just-"

"Listen, girl, I don't have time for your silly games. So just get out, and get lost" he shoves Aria away; making her fall.

His cold gaze not showing any guilt, pity, or care; hers' showing hurt, _guilt_, and sadness. He keeps staring at her.

"Well?" he yells.

"If that's what you wish" she stands up, sets the candle back where she found it, and leaves.

But before leaving, she wipes her eyes with her sleeve.

Subaru caught this action and grabs her hand; by reflex. Aria's teary eyes look at him; her cheeks reddening, her tears falling. His eyes widen at this unwanted situation; truth be told, he only wanted Aria to stay away so she cannot see him being _weak_.

His expression softens and pulls her into a tight, warm, caring hug. His hand then comforts her, too.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" he says lovingly; stroking her white hair.

To please him, Aria struggles to stop her tears; she can't, however. The clear, crystal-like droplets keep on falling onto her **and** his clothing. Her pale hands suddenly grab on tighter to his clothing.

The candle isn't on anymore; it's finished.

In the darkness, Subaru wipes away his sister's tears with his hand; whispering comforting words. Sometimes, he would even lick them; tasting the saltiness, and making her flinch.

"Brother… I…" she utters out; still sobbing.

"Hush now, no need to cry" he whispers to her ear.

His hand wanders off to her neck, and then pushing away her strands which are covering that location. His lips then rests on her neck; making her tremble. She tries hard to push away, but his arms keep her in place. _Sakurami-San was right; he __**is**__ strong._

A few minutes later, Aria finally calms down. She's even hugging him back. Subaru's head still placed on her neck.

"You came here for that pervert's _game_, right?" he says.

She nods, wiping her puffy eyes with her sleeve.

Subaru reaches for a piece of paper located near his coffin; his eyes not getting lost. Aria wonders if vampires hold the ability to see so clearly in the dark; unlike her. Even though the sky's soft purple light illuminates the room dimly, Aria is still not able to see anything other than outside the window.

He hands over the mistreated note; the writings almost entirely incomprehensible. Her hand cautiously grabs the note; not wanting it to be damaged even more.

"Thank you, Brother. I should, uh… leave" she says, smiling a bit.

"Sure" he pats her head.

Aria strides over to the door, opening it, and walking out. The clicking sound of her boots making her calmer for some reason. She walks along the hallways quietly, then stopping at one of the windows; looking at the slowly arriving sunrise.

She lets out a deep sigh, and opens the note. The messily written note clearly very difficult to read, but it's still somewhat readable.

**Congrats**

**You're almost done, Sister!**

**I never thought you made it this far**

**Now then, let's see you try waking Shu up!**

Aria scowls a bit; _this game is like a random goose chase_. But nonetheless, she searches for Shu.

Morning dew has made its way to the windows, the chirping of awaken birds, and the blue color of the sky. Today is going to be a sunny day; and a full moon later on tonight.

To this, Aria's mind _shallows_; the moment will arrive, soon. Her feet walk onward to Shu's room, her mind ignoring _it_.

The night's rain has made the plants well hydrated outside; the water droplets radiating small sparkles, too. She thinks back to the years she spent in the hospital; more likely on _those_ days.

She lets out a heavy sigh and takes a turn to where Shu's room seems to be. The blonde male is likely to still be asleep, or just started his rest. The memory of the time she spent with him in the hidden room brings a smile to her previous downcast mood; just like that.


	19. Chapter 19

Forgive me!  
I forced myself to write this! I miss all your comments :"3 /awh~~~ so sweet /waht

Anyways, here's the 19th chapter, hope u all like it!  
Btw, I did _**NOT**_ translate anything here! #spoiler

ER_0R

* * *

Sakamaki Sister

Her small form stands still in front of the large double doors; the handle reflecting her face. Her tiny hand knocks the door softly.

"What?" A sleepy voice calls out.

Aria pushes the door open; the music sheets that are tattered about the floor peaks her attention first. The room is decent and tidy, even for someone who's as lazy as Shu. The pastel color of the walls also making Aria feel more _welcomed_.

"What do you want?" he says coldly, his earphones still in place and his eyes only half open.

Aria shifts a littler, but then calms down. She struggles to keep her breathing even and relaxed. Even though she spent an enjoyable time with him, being around Shu's presence is still making the small girl feel uneasy.

"I just… Raito said that I should meet you here" she tells the truth; not wanting to experience what Subaru did to her for the second time.

Shu's sleepy gaze falls on Aria's quite fatigued face. His hand then beckons her to get closer. She does so; hands upon her _heart_. Her steps are slower than usual, her eyes are also downcast. Could it be her fatigue? Or is it the intimidating stare that Shu is giving her?

His hand signals to her that she is allowed to sit next to him on the bed; she does so. Shu takes out a note from out of his pocket, and then waving it around absently.

"This is what you want?" he says; _teasingly_.

Aria stares at her brother in amazement, her mind floating to a thought if Shu is able to read her mind. The thought scares her a bit.

"Yes, do you mind if I take it?" her hand motions to take it.

But Shu acts first and pulls the note away; almost making Aria fall onto him. He yawns and then puts the note back into his pocket. His finger then makes small circles in the air.

"Trade: a song for a note" he says.

A small taint of pink appears on her pale cheeks.

"That's not fair" she says.

"Is that so?"

"Of course, if I trade you a song for that note, then you'll be getting the upper hand by getting something of much more from me"

"Are you sure? Raito **did **say that the prize for this game of his might interest you"

"I doubt so"

"Sing" his voice is more commanding.

"I won't do it" she crosses her hands over her chest.

Shu lets out an irritated sigh. An idea pops up in his mind.

"Let's make a _bet_ then. The one who pulls back first will lose" he says.

Aria is caught off guard and wonders about the bet; but Shu's arm suddenly wraps around her waist, disrupting her thoughts. His other hand is tilting up her red tainted face.

"S-Shu, let me go" she whimpers – almost **begging** – to be released.

Said brother ignores his sister's words and goes an inch closer. Aria's face reddens more as Shu's warm breath is felt against her skin. _So this is what he meant_. She takes guard and sits still; **totally** not wanting to lose the bet.

Shu's face inches closer to hers', a pleased glow in his eyes. A small _smirk_ appears on his lips; sending an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. Closer… _Closer_…

Their faces are so very close; lips **almost** touching. Shu's grip on Aria's waist tightens, pulling her closer, almost onto, his larger form.

"Let go, please" she pushes a bit.

"Don't resist, losing this game will be _bad_ for you, right?" he leans in closer.

Aria still holds her guard, until she feels his lips brush against hers'. She pulls back.

"You lose" Shu calmly says, "Now sing"

Her small hands feel her warm cheeks; her breath also a bit weighed.

"T-that's not fair" she complains.

"Should _I_ care? Sing" he **commands**.

Aria gives out a small grunt, but does as his brother says.

_"All the memories that you left behind the sky_

_Running off and flowing down, everywhere_

_It's because I saw a dream, sorrowfully sing to the night_

_O' the princess with no name has ceased to beat_

_Before long, the sacred forest will be veiled with this silence_

_And secretly decay with me, with these small prayers_

_O' break me with attachment, please wreck me with affection_

_And crush me with your eyes, those innocent eyes_

_I'm drowning in your kisses, such deep infatuation_

_It's dyed red and scarlet, this love, this one love_"

"That will be enough in trade for the note, Brother" Aria states; almost harshly.

Shu's closed eyes suddenly open, irritation obviously plastered on his face. He sighs in annoyance and gives her the note, and the shooing her away.

"Leave me be" he says, closing his eyes for some sleep.

Aria nods and leaves the room, but not before pulling the blanket over Shu's body.

She slowly closes the door; careful to not make any noise. Once she's completely away from her oldest brother's room, she opens the note; neat, compared to the others. The sun is also rising higher and higher, it's about seven in the morning. The morning greets the earth nicely today, for a change.

Her hands open the note.

**Well? Did you wake him up?**

**Or was he already awake?**

**No matter, time for the next quest~**

**I think you can already guess who Bitch-Chan is, don't you?**

**Well then, find her and try to help her out**

**The final note will reveal your prize**

**Yay!**

_That's not very nice of him to call Yui like that_…

But nonetheless, Aria goes to Yui's room. Not far from Shu's room. And conveniently, right in front of her room, too.

The mansion is quiet; maybe all the brothers are asleep at this time? And where is that strange butler at? He **is **creepy in some way, but at least there's someone to know who is around at this time.

As her hand opens Yui's room, the owner of the room herself is not in sight.

"Yui, where are you?" Aria asks the empty room.

"A-Aria…!" a faint shout of her name comes out of the bathroom.

_What the…_


	20. Chapter 20

Sakamaki Sister

"Aria!" Yui shouts again.

Said vampire tries to budge open the bathroom door, to only strain her energy more.

"What happened?" Aria asks the _damsel in distress._

"I… I'm not sure… I was reading, and then Raito suddenly barges in. He put a box under my bed, a-and then locked me here. He also gave me a key to the box, but I'm afraid that it won't fit under the door" she explains.

Aria thinks for a while; she has to get Yui out in order to get the next box.

"Wait here, I'll think of something" her red eyes looking around the room.

Aria searches around the room that can be used to open that door; under the pillows, on the desk – only a locked box is located there –, in the drawers, and everywhere else. She takes out the box from under the bed and clearly sees that there's no way of picking the lock easily.

She gives out a loud sigh of frustration and sits on the bed. _Coincidentally_ she feels a strange hard object at the location of where she's sitting. Checking, a smile makes it to her face as she is now holding a key, but it's much too big for the bathroom. So she keeps on looking.

Her eyes linger for a while on a box on Yui's desk. Trying out the key, the box's lid opens with a _click_. To her_ delight_, a piece of paper with the numbers 1590 is inside it. Looking around some more, she sees nothing else but Yui's normal room.

"Did you find anything?" Yui asks, knocking on the locked bathroom door.

"Yeah, I think so. Do you know anything here that uses the code 1590?" Aria asks.

Yui gasps.

"M-my suitcase's code!" Yui shouts out in pure shock.

_How did he knew… That sneaky brother of mine…_

Aria ignores the thought temporarily and unlocks Yui's suitcase. Inside is another key; which seems to fit the bathroom's keyhole.

She steps quickly to the bathroom door and unlocks it, revealing a relieved Yui.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she cheers while hugging the younger female.

Aria just smile and hugs back; relief also within her.

"May I have the key now, if you don't mind?" she politely asks.

"Here you go" she hands her the key.

Aria then reaches under Yui's bed to get the box that contains the final note. The box opens with another _click_, and revealing a neatly folded pink-colored note.

**Congratulations!**

**You made it, my lovely little sister!**

**Now, for the gift~**

**Go to your room and check the compartment above the fireplace**

**XOXO Raito**

Filled with slight annoyance, Aria crumples the note and puts it in her pocket.

"I can't believe this…" she sighs.

"What's wrong?" Yui asks; worried.

"Raito sent me out on a little game, and in the end, it's in my room all along. I was going there when Raito suddenly suggested the game, anyways"

"It's not so bad; at least he kept you busy"

"I… Guess you're right. If you'll excuse me, I'll be going back to my room now" she bows before exiting her room.

Aria **literally** takes a step to reach her own door; since her room is right in front of Yui's. She slowly opens the door and takes in the monochrome view of her _dull_ room. Her eyes wander to the fireplace, where a beautifully decorated box resides.

She walks to the box; knowing that it's the prize for playing that game. The box is wrapped with pink-colored wrapping paper, a red bow perfectly placed at the top center of it, and the scent or roses wafting around it.

Her hands gently remove the wrapping paper; not wanting to damage the pretty thing. Her view then meets a dull-colored box. She removes the lid and sees…

"A doll…?" she questions the item.

"I am not a child anymore; why would he even?" she questions again.

Said item is a cat doll; colored white. The doll's head is adorned with a small tiara with fake diamonds on it. The doll is also wearing a cute black dress with white ribbons. And also… Scented like fresh roses. She takes in the scent and relaxes.

"Why would he do such a thing?" she asks once more before spotting a note attached to the back of the lid.

The note is, too, colored in pink, with little hearts. She reads aloud.

**This is your gift!**

**Sorry if you don't like it**

**It's one of Kanato's dolls that got thrown out**

**I cleaned it; even sprayed some of my perfumes there**

**I guess that's all**

**Love, Big Brother Raito**

_He did all of this… For a doll?_

She hugs the doll lovingly; knowing how caring that prevent can be. Her fingers then play around with the hem of the doll's dress. Then wanders off to the tiara atop the doll's head; her face smiling.

Her eyes then scans around the box, another note catches her attention. This time attached to the wrapping paper. She takes it off and reads.

**Simply**

**Because**

**You**

**Are**

**A**

**Princess**

Her eyes widen and a smile appears. She says aloud.

"I'm not a princess, just another broken girl"

Walking with the doll to her bed, she falls asleep with a smile and small traces of tears.

Tonight, she will dream of all her brothers as dashing princes, Yui as the princess, and Aria her lady in waiting – slowly transforming into a beautiful princess.


	21. Chapter 21

Sakamaki Sister

The morning sun is rising; normal mortals are starting the day, while the Sakamaki mansion is just starting to fall asleep. The sun's rays are warming up the atmosphere, making the heat a tad bit annoying to those who dislike it.

A messy bundle of white hair lazily curls around Aria's sleeping body and the doll that she's hugging. The curtains are still open, letting the bright sunlight into her room. But this does not bother her one bit; her fatigue has taken over.

Meanwhile, all her brothers and Yui are still walking about the place; clearly, since they **do** possess more energy. Out of all, Yui is the most worried.

"Tonight's a full moon… I hope that Aria won't be like her brothers" she sighs.

She **is** correct on this part, but she's completely oblivious of the fact that something much worst will befall the snow-haired girl. This is also one of the reasons which led their father – Karl Heinz – to bring her back home.

Yui keeps walking around aimlessly, until meeting a certain arrogant red-headed vampire.

"Oi, Pancake" he says coldly.

"What is it, Ayato?" Yui says casually.

"It's about Aria, just a question"

"Hm?"

Just as Ayato opens his mouth to ask, Raito and Reiji barges in.

"Hi there, Bitch-Chan. So what's this talk I heard about dear sister?" Raito chirps playfully.

Yui takes in a gulp as Reiji's sharp stare penetrates her comfort, but says it out anyways.

"Well, today will be a full moon. And I wonder if Aria will also be like _that_" Yui's eyes go downcast.

The three brothers ponder about this; the full moon's effect to Aria's behavior. In the middle of their thoughts, the clock chimes nine in the morning.

"We should all rest" Reiji says, his long fingers pushing up his glasses.

They all agree and head back to their rooms. Yui, being the owner of the room that's closest to Aria's, take a worried glance at the sleeping girl through the slightly opened door. She shakes her head and closes the door, trying hard to not worry about it.

Meanwhile, Aria's sleeping face turns from peaceful to as if her heart is being pierced by a silver knife. She winces; sweat trickling down her pained face, and her hands clenching the doll.

A few hours later, the sun goes down behind the tall city buildings. It's about four in the afternoon, the birds are going back to their nests to enjoy their time relaxing from a long day of foraging for food, the city's people are bustling around either going somewhere or going back home, and most people are just starting to wake up.

Aria's eyes flutter open slowly; adjusting to the color of the slowly darkening sky. Just as she's about to get out of bed, her body fails her; sending her falling to the floor.

"Not now… _Shit_" Aria closes her mouth right after she says that word.

Her hands grip the side of her bed, and then struggling to stand up. Her legs walk limply to the door, her hand opening it, and head on to Yui's door.

"Y-Yui?" Aria's weak voice asks.

"Yeah?" Yui's sleepy voice says.

"Can you t-tell the others that I c-can't go to school today? I just… I don't feel very well"

"Eh? I can stay home with you if you want"

"No! Oh, I mean, there's no need to do that. You just go, I'll be fine"

With that, Aria returns to her room and locks the door.

An hour later, Yui comes out of her room and knocks on Aria's door. With no answer, she assumes that the young vampire is just asleep. Or is she?

Yui descends down the stairs to already see that the brothers are already downstairs; she looks at Kanato's confused face.

"Where's Aria?" he asks, looking around behind Yui.

"She's not feeling well, so she said that she'll stay home today" Yui says to Kanato.

"Maybe it's the moon tonight?" Ayato looks the window.

The seven of them go out to the limousine. However, before that, Subaru looks back at the window of Aria's room; worried.

As the limousine drives away, Aria eyes look outside to the orange sky. She has placed all the sharp objects of her room in the bathroom, which is now locked. The door, the window, and the extra door to her work room are also locked. The fireplace is only an empty space with no firewood.

But still, this does not calm her one bit.

Her trembling form sits on a corner of the room, her scared voice keeps saying "hold it in, hold it in, hold it in…". Her hands are also hugging herself.

Ten o'clock. The others are probably in the middle of having a break or a lesson. While Aria is pacing around her room, sometimes tripping over nothing. And with a slightly cracked voice, she laughs.

"When will they return, I wonder" she giggles.

Her body sways recklessly around the room, stopping here and there. She keeps on doing so until she feels a heavy weight on her _heart_. Aria's movements stop suddenly. And in a split second her eyes become lifeless and she starts to scream loudly.

"It's almost midnight… Hehe… Just wait for a bit more… Ahahaha…" she smiles sweetly at the bright, round moon.

Eleven o'clock, Aria is starting to get restless. She keeps one banging her body against the door in an attempt to open it. She also tumbled down some of her furniture.

"Hurry up! Don't make me wait!" She shouts at the door furiously.

And right after that, she calms down and leans to the wall; her hands clutching her face.

"Relax, don't shout at the door. The poor door will get upset… Ahaha…! That's it! I'm a genius! Ehehe" she walks around the room aimlessly.

Her red eyes then gleams in excitement. She looks down to the key attached to her necklace.

"Perfect! If I can't go to them, then why not lure them to me instead? Ahahahaha, brilliant!" Her hand then rips the key off her necklace, and she starts to bang it to the glass of the window.

"Calm little nightingale sings a song. Calm little nightingale slowly dies. Calm little nightingale has no voice. A perfect picture of me, oh, yes. Ahaha~"


	22. Chapter 22

Sakamaki Sister

Aria keeps hitting on the glass with the key of her necklace, laughing. With each _crack_ of the glass, her voice's volume increases.

"Any second now, ehehe" she chants.

It's midnight now; the limousine should appear any moment. This makes Aria more frantic in hitting the glass. It's breaking now, almost all the way through. She keeps on hitting the glass. Then, a familiar black vehicle parks itself in front of the gate.

The seven older individuals make their way out that vehicle and walks into the mansion; Yui – who miraculously survived any attempts of bloodsucking – seems to be **extra** worried. Aria takes this to her advantage and hits the glass with so much strength to the point it **breaks**. She then screams loudly, catching the attention of everyone downstairs.

All of them run upstairs, Yui ahead of the boys. Her fast steps stop abruptly in front of Aria's door, and her hands start to furiously knock on the locked door.

"Aria!" she shouts.

Subaru, obviously concerned, rams open the door with his body. As they all enter the room, they see the little vampire sitting before the broken window, her body shaking.

Being brave, Yui calls her name with her shaky voice. The white tangle of hair turns around, showing Aria's teary face. She slowly stands up, but not without falling.

"I'm sorry… I'm such a bad girl, aren't I? I broke the window" she says, frowning.

"_You_ broke the glass?" Reiji asks with an interested expression.

His sister nods and walks closer to the group, head down. Looking closer, Kanato notices the malicious smirk plastered on her face. Kanato's view darts to Yui – who is closest to Aria – to warn her of his sister's next action. But it's too late.

In a split second – or even quicker than that – Aria pins Yui down on the floor. All the brothers gasp in pure shock, then sees what their sister is trying to do, trying to bite Yui's neck without her noticing.

Raito hurries behind Aria and tries to pull her away, but it's no use, her strength somehow multiplied a trillion folds.

"Subaru! Shu! Don't just stand there! Help me!" Raito shouts, still trying to pry Aria off the frightened Yui.

Said vampires rush next to Raito and helps him pull their sister. With Subaru's massive strength, they manage to pull Aria off and hold her down. Subaru watch her shriek and fight to release herself with an apologetic face mixed with hurt, while Shu's gaze hardens upon her writhing form.

"**AH! LET ME GO! NOW! ERGH!**" she keeps on shrieking.

Ayato and Raito are now checking on Yui's condition, Reiji left already, Subaru and Shu are still holding Aria down, and Kanato is trying to calm her down.

"Brother… Please, let me go. It hurts" Aria's voice comes out with tiny sobs.

Being easily swayed by emotion, Subaru's grip on her weakens. Shu is also caught off guard, hearing her voice so sad and pitiful. Kanato's eyes are wide; to him, her teary face is worth of some interest.

Aria smirks and lunges at Yui once more. But instead of getting to her, Raito moves first and shields Yui. Ayato bravely steps in front of both, and receives Aria's assault.

He fights hard to not let her harm him nor Yui.

"Aria! Don't you **dare** attack me!" he says, his threat dripping from every word.

She ignores this and keeps on trying to bite him; it's a harsh _quarrel_ between them. The others cannot interfere now, seeing as even the six of them combined are still having difficulties restraining her.

Aria lunges towards Ayato's neck; ready to bite. At this moment, she's not expecting any intrusions; but she's wrong. Right before she bites down, Reiji suddenly appears and pulls her off the redhead. He then inserts the needle of the syringe he's holding and injects her; Aria's strength begins to float away, her eyes are becoming heavy, and she finally stays limp within Reiji's hold.

Ayato gasps to catch his breath. That was **certainly** a battle that he won't forget easily.

"Reiji, what did you inject her with?" Kanato asks, his head eyeing Aria's sleeping face.

"Just some liquefied tranquilizing drugs, much stronger from the ones mortals use, though" he lays her head on the floor.

They all surround the sleeping vampire; their faces either worried or annoyed. Subaru acts first and asks Reiji.

"Is she gonna be alright?"

"Yes, but at the very least, she'll be a bit faint tomorrow morning. But I have to say, this change of her behavior **is** fascinating"

Yui then suggest that they should put Aria somewhere that does not contain anything that might harm her, Raito suggests his room; since it doesn't contain anything that is harmful, unlike Ayato's room. So Raito brings her to his room while the others head for the living room.

When Raito arrives there, the others are already chattering away.

"I've seen Ayato and Kanato act crazy during the full moon, but not even to her level" oddly, Shu seems concern enough to not ignore this matter.

"Could this be the result from her time in the hospital?" Yui asks.

"Can't be, the hospital doesn't even know that she's not human" Subaru's eyes are showing a bit of annoyance, the reason is because even he cannot hold someone who is a year younger than him.

"But still, a vampire who behaves like that even worries me" Kanato hugs Teddy tightly.

"I'm really concerned about her; she's very precious to our family, right?" Raito barges in on the conversation.

"I have to admit; Yours' Truly feels a little worried about her _tantrum_" Ayato leans on his seat.

Reiji suddenly declares that Aria will keep being monitored on each night of the full moon. Everybody agrees and return to their rooms for some **very** well deserved rest, except Raito, who stays behind and sleeps on one of the sofas.

They all sleep restlessly, though. Worried about a certain vampire…


	23. Chapter 23

Sakamaki Sister

It's about four in the afternoon now. And as the _norm_ most people of the society are all busy. The people of the night-school where the residents of the Sakamaki mansion go to are all peacefully asleep or are already awake in their own abodes.

Except one, the little _princess_ named Aria. Her exhausted eyes gently flutter open; trying hard to rid the grogginess. After she's fully awake, she notices that the room that she's resting in is not hers'; she comes to a guess that this is Raito's room, because of the undistinguishable scent of the perfume that he _bathed_ her new doll with.

She wanders around the room for a bit, looking intently at all the things in the room. Then she decides to leave; since in her opinion, snooping around is totally _unacceptable_.

When her hand reaches the doorknob, it opens first. She looks up to see those striking green eyes.

"Morning, Shorty" Ayato ruffles Aria's hair. "Don't forget, alright? My room, half an hour"

He leaves the confused Aria. She exits the room and ponders. _That's right; I promised him that I'll visit his room_.

She closes the door and heads to kitchen first, for some reason, she's strangely famished. As her boots _click-clacks_ down the carpeted stairs, she thinks of what she should munch on. The large chandelier looms over her; the lights off, of course.

Her lips curve to a smile as she enters the kitchen, the hinting scent of sweets wafting around. She _rummages_ through the fridge frantically in hopes of finding a snack. With that failed, she tries the cupboard next.

Gradually, she finds a jar of cookies. She grabs about four of them and starts munching on the chocolate topped cookies. When satisfied, she places the jar back on the cupboard and head back upstairs to Ayato's room.

Along the way, she still feels the need to consume something. Her head shakes in disapproval and carry on to her redheaded brother's room.

Aria opens the door and is petrified to see that his room is… More like a torture room. His coffin is lying on the floor, unused; he seems to prefer sleeping inside the iron maiden. Most of the items create a vivid image of what the other kids at the hospital did to her. _Horrible_… She trembles in fear.

She rips her gaze away from this room to the floor; the nice, flat floor. A loud sigh escapes her trembling lips as nostalgia strikes her already weak self.

"_Oh, there you are. Get me my knife so I can have fun, or I'll throw you out the window"_

"_And there she falls down the stairs! Next is a knife to her leg!"_

"_More! More! We need more rocks!"_

"_A child of the devil deserves her birthmark, yes?"_

"_Homerun to her neck! One more to her head!"_

"-Hey! You listening?" Ayato's demanding voice awakes Aria's realization.

She looks up at her brother's slightly annoyed face; pink tinting her cheeks at how close he is.

"Forget it" he clicks his tongue.

"Um… What was I supposed to do here?" she asks softly.

"Here" he beckons her to sit on his closed coffin. "I just want to talk about something"

_Talk? That's unlikely of him…_

She meekly follows his orders and sits atop the coffin, her posture similar of a princess'. Ayato lets out a weighed sigh and speaks up.

"Last night. What happened, exactly?"

Aria seems to be taken aback by his question. Her eyebrows furrow.

"What are you talking about? I was resting in my room while you all went to school, I wasn't feeling very bright"

Ayato, too, is taken aback by his sister's statement.

"You went berserk during last night's full moon and attacked Pancake. Hell, you even tried to **kill** me" he brushes his hair back.

"I did" her eyes widen in shock. "I'm so sorry! I… I didn't know! I just-"

Ayato closes her mouth.

"Do you know about this?" he asks.

Aria just shakes her head.

However, the second after that, she feels a heavy weight on her head and tumbles forward. On time, Ayato catches her.

"You okay?" he asks, concern lacing around his voice.

"I think so… I'm a little bit hungry, though" she admits.

Her brother sighs and suddenly reveals the nape of his neck.

"Hurry up, before I change my mind"

Wide-eyed once more, she stutters out.

"But, I can't possibly-" again, Ayato dismisses her rambling once more.

"You're a vampire, it's what you should do" he pushes her head closer to his neck.

Aria hesitates for a while, unmoving. But all of this changes when she fells a sudden need to bite. So she does so; her fangs sinking deep into his skin. She slowly drinks the velvet red fluid that's gushing out of Ayato's bite wound.

"Urgh, your fangs are pretty sharp" he pats her head.

After satisfying her needs, she pulls her head away, not forgetting to lick the remaining blood. When Ayato looks at her, he laughs and wipes the blood stain near her sister's lips. She blushes.

"I uh…" Her eyes dart around the room; not sure of what to say.

Then, Ayato suddenly pushes Aria out the door.

"Get ready before Reiji nags us" he closes the door harshly.

Aria stands in front of his door, dumbfounded, but proceeds anyway to her room and get ready.

Her desire for fill is no longer there. With a happy smile she gets ready for school.

While she prepares, she wonders if the teacher will scold her for being absent on the second day. Or will her classmates ask her over and over about it. Will Aidou be worried?

"Aria, hurry up, you slowpoke!" Ayato shouts.

"Alright, no need to shout" Aria exits her room, fully prepared for the day.

_Let's go_


	24. Chapter 24

Sakamaki Sister

The eight of them gets inside the limousine and go to school, the sun within the background slowly setting. While looking outside, Aria spots a familiar brunette on a bike, Aidou. For about two seconds, they exchange looks – Aidou's obviously worried and relieved – but their time gets _cut off_ by the limousine driving away quickly.

She looks back at the others and hopes that none of them saw the small smile appearing on her lips. All the **exact** same as her first day of school; everyone is being quiet. She sees the passing scenery happily, purple slowly over-coloring orange.

The mere situation makes Aria feel sleepy again, and with no other **soft **surface to rest on, she leans on Reiji's shoulder. Reiji looks at her with a somewhat annoyed look, but softens as he sees her peacefully sleeping face. He proceeds to read his book, feeling a bit… _Lightened_.

The limousine makes a small screech as it stops in front of the school gate. They all get ready to get off the vehicle, until sudden realization hits them; Aria is still asleep. Reiji – even if he dislikes to waste time – does not dare to wake her; she seems too _angelic_ like this to his eyes.

Subaru, being a little bit annoyed, decides to wake up his sister.

"Aria, wake up" he gently shakes her shoulders.

"Huh? Wha?" she yawns and rubs her eyes.

Suddenly, she notices that she was sleeping on Reiji's shoulder and gets out of the limousine quickly. _Embarrassed _that she rested on him so suddenly and making the others wait for her.

They all quickly go into the building. Aria's steps halt when she hears a _sunny_ voice calls her name.

"Oh, Aidou" said girl says happily, bowing a bit.

"You okay? Yui-San said that you didn't feel well yesterday" he shakes her shoulders playfully, a pout on his face.

"Eh, she did? Well, I'm fine now, to say the least"

"Glad to hear that! Oh, my sister and I made this for you, hope you like it" he hands her a small pack of chocolates.

"Thank you so much! How did you know I like chocolates?"

"I can read your mind" he laughs, ruffling up Aria's hair.

They proceed on their conversation as the others continue on their way into the building. Though, Aria, Aidou, and Yui doesn't notice then sharp look present on each of the brothers' eyes.

Aria and Aidou goes into class, but he soon leave, saying that he needs to have some small talk with the rest of his basketball teammates. With a wide smile, he runs off.

She heads over to her desk, feeling a little bit uneasy because of the looks given by her classmates. But she ignores it and just like her first day, doodles on her notebook. This time, her senses results to a drawing of a rose.

A few moments later, all the students that weren't in the class rushes in, followed by the teacher; and all become silent except for his lesson. Aria takes note of all the important things, not forgetting to doodle here and there, too.

The bell rings loudly, signaling break time. She stretched all her limbs, _forcing_ away the numbness. In front of her, Aidou starts a conversation.

"Since you're new, want me to show you around?"

Aria keeps her smile to herself. She then looks at her brother.

"May I?" she asks.

"Why ask me? It's your choice" Subaru says coldly.

A bit down in mood, she accepts Aidou's invitation and they both walk out the classroom. Unaware to any of the three that Alyssia is planning something.

Subaru – after a few seconds of seeing his sister leave – strides out of the class. Sparkling purple eyes_ twinkle_ maliciously as Alyssia slips a piece of paper into Aria's closed notebook, and then proceeds with her chat with her best friend, Fujiko Saiya, the brain of this class.

Meanwhile, Subaru is **not just** wandering around, but is **tailing** a few meters behind Aria and her friend, which the white-haired male doesn't even know of. He follows them quietly, glaring at anybody who are about to ask him of his actions.

Aidou leads Aria nearly to anywhere in the gigantic school: the gym, the music rooms' department, the seniors' building, and even the pond behind the school. Aria, having sharp senses, knows that someone is following them. But Aidou's cheerful character quickly makes the feeling subside.

They both jog to class because they only have a few minutes left before the bell rings again. During the way, Aidou almost collide with a senior, making Aria giggle at his odd reflex motion. Good thing, they made it just in time. Bad thing, the teacher is late.

"Well, **that** was a waste" Aidou leans on to his seat, his head resting on Aria's table.

While at this, Subaru enters the class and almost glares at Aidou, but is restricted by the calm, happy face of his sister. But even if she feels comfortable with her friend, doesn't mean that her brother will fully approve. Subaru doesn't know him, so how can he trust his _little angle_ to him?

A few hours later, the final bell rings. All the students release heavy sighs, some over cheers. Aria was about to put in all her things, when suddenly a hyper looking girl comes to her.

"Aria, was it? I need your help. You see, my friend that was supposed to help me with my piano practice is sick today, so I'm asking you to replace her until she's better. Can you?" she asks, almost desperately.

"Hmm… Alright. I don't play the piano, though" she scratches her cheek.

"About that, I'm actually asking you to **sing**. Are you familiar with LOVELESSxxx by VanaN'Ice?"

"Yes, I listen and very much enjoy their songs during my time in the hospital"

"Great! I'll see you in front of the music rooms' department in about forty minutes" she runs off.

Aria looks at Subaru, who returns her look.

"What? You want me to wait?" he asks.

"N-no, not really. I was just about to ask if you could tell the others so they won't fuss about this, I'll find a way to get home on my own"

Without saying anything else, Subaru goes out of the class and disappears among the sea of students and teachers.

"I have basketball practice after this, **I** can take you home" Aidou smiles.

Aria returns his smile, nods, fix her things, and go to the music rooms' department to assist her classmate.

* * *

No, Shu is not in there ;D


	25. Chapter 25

Sakamaki Sister

Aria and her classmate start their practice session. Everything goes by smoothly, until Aria repeats a line from the song by accident.

"Oh, please forgive me. I seem to have forgotten the lyrics" she bows.

Her classmate shakes her head frantically. "That's alright. Here, use my cellphone" she hands the white-haired girl a machine which she just called a _cellphone_.

Aria looks at the screen and is quite petrified of how technology can come is such tiny packages. _I wonder why I've never seen this at home…_

The sound of the piano starts and Aria starts to sing in perfect pitch and not missing a single note. While reading through the lyrics, she feels a pang on her _heart_. She keeps singing, though, trying her best to hold all her feelings in.

When the song ends, she gives her classmate the cellphone back and claims that she needs to make haste on going home. After the obligation, Aria jogs back to the main entrance; very shocked to see that Aidou is actually **waiting** for her.

"Took you long enough" he complains jokingly.

"I didn't ask you to wait either" Aria shots back, a smile on her face.

Aidou grabs her hand and goes over to his bike, he then asks her to get on it. She does so.

They both then cycle along the streets to their home. _Wait_.

"Aidou, is it **really** okay for you to take me back home?" Aria asks; a little worried.

"No worries, my house is just a bit more of ways than your stop" he says happily.

The scenery passes by the two; the streets only consisting of some shops and people from night schools – aside from where Aria goes to. The star-sprinkled black sky twinkles at every angel; mesmerizing Aria. _First time I see stars as much as now_.

Another question sparks up.

"You seem like a morning person, so why are you in night school?" Aria asks him once more.

"Oh, that. My parents like to travel around for both relaxation and businesses, so they like to drag me and my sister around. This time, their job is at night time, so I'm also **forced** to join night class"

"If I may, where are you originally from?"

"From planet Mars. Nah, I'm originally from Japan. It's the first time I saw this place since a couple of years. My last stop was Germany"

"I see" Aria laughs, along with Aidou.

The chat almost endlessly; which include many topics in each conversation. Aria learns that Ai is the name of Aidou's older sister. His sister plays the clarinet and is **very** skilled in baking. His parents work as politicians and they like to be called here and there all over the world, this makes Aria wonder if her father knows them.

On the other hand, Aria doesn't really tell much about her family. Aidou doesn't push that topic much because it's clear that Aria isn't really in the mood to talk about them.

The view of the mansion grows closer and closer. With a sigh, Aria asks something _disturbing_.

"Who is Alyssia, **exactly**?"

"Well, she's _just_ the playgirl of the school. She's American and basically hits on **any** guy she finds interesting. Last two months was one of your brothers, his name was Shu-Senpai, I think. She just recently started aiming for Subaru-San since he's in the same class as her, and **nobody** really dares to get close to him; giving her wide space all to herself. I suggest that you steer clear of her. Also, she has a friend – check that, **best friend** –, her name's Saiya. I _think _you know that she's the brain of our class, but she's **very** sharp-tongued and has a crush on **another** one of your brothers, too, it's Reiji-Senpai. The combination of Alyssia and Saiya makes them almost makes them _undefeatable_. From what I've heard, Saiya had a math competition against a senior; she dropped out after **winning ten times in a row**, claiming that she's bored of it. Then, Alyssia managed to sway her grade sixth teacher into giving her a **perfect** score. _Scary_, if you ask me" Aidou explains.

"That's… I don't even know what to say about that" Aria sighs in frustration.

They finally arrive in front of the mansion's gates. Aria gets off of Aidou's bike and bids him farewell. He cycles away and Aria walks along the rosebush-sided walkway, towards the front door. While walking, she hums a tune familiar to her, but not exactly remembering the song's title.

Unaware to her, Kanato was looking at her giving Aidou a friendly farewell from the second floor. His eyes clouded in curiosity and jealousy. With a smile, he walks down the stairs and to the front door. He sits on the last stair; waiting patiently with Teddy hugged to his chest.

He can hear the soft _clicking_ of Aria's shoes clearly, since it's about two in the morning. The purple-haired vampire just sits there wondering if he and the others can_ trust _someone who they don't know, _yet_ has befriended his sister.

The double doors open with a loud, rusty _squeak_. All seems fine to Aria's senses. That is, until she sees Kanato perfectly perched on the center of the staircase; his eyes gleaming in a disturbing war and his eerie smile slowly getting wider and wider.

"Brother, don't scare me like that" Aria says, her voice shaky.

She steps closer to him, who is just eyeing her up and down; looking for any added damages to her _clothing_, much rather, her **body**.

"Brother?" she asks once more, shaking his shoulder this time.

He **still** doesn't answer nor move a muscle. She keeps on calling his name and shaking his shoulder more frequently. Worried, she keeps on doing her actions while calling.

Suddenly, he swiftly grabs her hand that's on his shoulder and leans in to her ear.

His voice rings eerily to her ears. "Who's your _friend_, Sister Dear?"


	26. Chapter 26

Sakamaki Sister

Kanato's grip on Aria's hand tightens as his other hand starts to pulls her closer to him. He asks once more.

"Who was he?" his voice darkening with every word.

In fear, the seemingly tired sister tries to free herself. But alas, like before, her efforts are futile. Knowing this a little too late, she surrenders.

"My friend, nothing more" she says.

At her answer, her brother's hold weakens and Aria uses this as a chance to escape; but is still around the area of which Kanato is located at.

His form slumps down a little as his eyes give out a dull shine. Red eyes look at him with worry, her hand delicately atop the stair's railing. This position stays for a few minutes; Kanato still sitting on the staircase while Aria just looks at him with uncertainty.

"Don't _lie_" his voice cracks a bit.

"What are you- I'm not lying, I would never. He's just a friend, none more and none less"

Suddenly, he stands up and looks at her; his eyes filled with anger, jealousy, betrayal, **and** doubt. On her side, Aria feels guilty about her behavior, so she starts to speak. However, is quickly cut off by her brother's yell.

"**You liar**! I know that you're starting to like him!" he almost pushed Aria.

"I _thought_ I can **trust** you; I _thought_ you're my **sister**!" he proceeds.

His words almost set her to tears, _but not now, not with him like this_. She stands her guard, ready to face anything that might come to her. While in front of her, stands a slowly_ breaking _Kanato.

"Ka-Kanato, he's **just** a friend. I said it, nothing more and nothing less" Aria tries to defend herself.

The enraged Kanato suddenly grabs both of Aria's shoulders and starts to shake her with slight force; back and forth, back and forth. She just closes her eyes out of fear that he might _slam_ her to the floor or the stairs.

"**Don't lie**!" he keeps on shrieking.

"I'm **not** lying, can't you just believe me?" she says; her voice's pitch higher than usual.

Her fingers start to claw on one of his hands, but still, this does not change the situation. This makes a question pop up in her head: _can't the others hear him shout?_ The answer to that question only ends up as either that this is normal or they're all so deeply asleep that even **this** doesn't awake them.

"Kanato… Please stop…" she begs, her tears already threatening to fall.

"Hehe, I wonder what your face will look like when I give you a _punishment_?" he says in a rather delighted tone.

But all that soon changes when he continues to _assault_ her with his previous question: "Who was he?"

Aria can only beg to be released; his grip is starting to add yet another injury on her body. In front of her Kanato keeps on threatening her that he'll **kill **Aidou if she keeps on lying. So with no other choice, she does the only thing that she can do at this moment…

_**Slap**_

She slaps him, leaving a very visible red mark on his cheek.

Engulfed in guilt, Aria sits on the floor and bows with her arms up front and her head on the floor; her tears are already dripping like waterfalls onto the carpeted pathway. She expects him to be more enraged, but instead.

"You… Slapped me…" he mutters, _crumbling_ down, too.

Aria decides to take a small peak at her brother. Her expression becomes **totally** paralyzed when she sees that he is also crying, his hand rubbing the spot where she slapped him. And the only sound that he's making is nothing but his pained voice.

"Brother? I… I'm sorry. I just- I didn't know" she struggles to let her word out, but is cut off by Kanato's wailing.

"You hate me" he mutters, his eyes showing ultimate sadness.

Aria, at this point, is totally lost and doesn't know what to do to calm her brother. While she processes the situation and her next action, Kanato just sits there while crying and complaining that his sister _hates_ him.

"Kanato, don't cry" she tries to calm him down.

But still, he keeps on crying. Aria makes her way closer to him and puts her hand on his head; feeling his soft hair. She strokes his hair gently while whispering calming words. Still, this does not calm the weeping vampire one bit.

Without any other choice, she pulls him into a hug. His body doesn't react to this, as if he knows her next action.

"I'm sorry, Brother. But he **is** just a friend, I don't lie to the people I care about. So stop crying, alright?" she whispers to his ear; desperately trying to calm him down.

Kanato stops crying, which makes Aria happy. But his next action **definitely** caught her off guard; he suddenly pulls her to him and starts to glide his lips over her neck and ear, making her tremble.

He stops, pulls back, and gives a knowing look. His fingers brush off her misplaced locks of hair, he then kisses her forehead.

"I'm just kidding, sorry about that. I know he's just a friend, but I wanted to test if you are worthy of being in my presence" he says happily.

Aria lets out the breath that she was holding; her expression _falls_. She shakes her head in disappointment, but strangely, she puts on a smile.

"A very _creative_ way to trick me, Brother" she says, pressing in a laugh.

They both look up at the moon through the window.

"Aren't you sleepy yet? You're welcomed to sleep with me"

"That won't be necessary, I'm not **that** exhausted" she says, her face tinting pink.

Kanato laughs and leaves her, but not before bidding her goodnight.

_The moon's very beautiful tonight, isn't it?_

A voice rings in her head; oddly familiar to the girl.

_They key holds everything._

Odd indeed.


	27. Chapter 27

Sakamaki Sister

The sun is already high up in the sky by now; all the other residents of the Sakamaki mansion are all deeply asleep, except one, the young Aria. She's been up with thought cluttered around her mind, and all she can do now is think everything true.

_The key holds everything, my dear._

That little voice in her head says again, _what does that even mean_? The female white-haired vampire ponders this while circling around her room. The only key that she knows is the one on her necklace, and that **couldn't** possibly be the answer that she's seeking.

Her tiny hand clutches the white, intricate, and perhaps valuable key tightly. She sighs in irritation and worry; not only about the _key_ that the peculiar voice is rambling on about, but also that she's not even tired, and tomorrow's a school day.

_Have you forgotten about the music box?_

After the voice asked that, Aria quickly makes her way to her special music box; the only thing that seems to have a warm _vibe_ to it. She knows well that this was given by her father not too long ago, but yet, it holds nostalgia.

Her fingers slide over the lid, her mind thinking deeply about the _mystery_ that this particular item may hold. Bloody red orbs start to blur up, and before she notices this, droplets of tears are already landing on top of the perfectly carved lid.

Aria, though, ignores this and opens the lid slowly. The base of the music box is glass; letting her see the gears inside. On the inside part of the lid, there is a very visible carving in English, _go on…_ The handwriting itself seems **all too** familiar to the ill-ridden vampire.

The key on her necklace is now slowly being inserted into the keyhole at the front of the music box. Her red orbs widen a little as the tune of the instrument begins to play, _this song… Why is it so familiar…? _As the music plays on, small pieces of her childhood begins to recover.

_The bright morning sky's light bathes over the Sakamaki Mansion. Aside from the cheerful morning, the building itself gives off a somewhat welcoming feeling. At the front garden, there stands the sister of the family._

_Not long after that, her father, Sakamaki Tougo – better known as Karl Heinz to the family – sets out yet again for work._

"_Father, will you be home late again?" she asks innocently._

"_I'm afraid so, but don't worry, you and your brothers are allowed to stay up tonight" he pats her head._

"_Eh, how come?"_

"_Because today is your birthday, have you forgotten already?" he laughs._

"_Yes, I realize that. But are you sure that my brothers are allowed to do so too?"_

"_Of course, because I know that you hate to be alone"_

_After those words, he gets into the limousine. They both wave at each other as the vehicle leaves._

At the memory with her oldest brother, Aria's tears flow even more.

"To be… Alone" she mutters to herself.

She holds the still playing music box to her _heart_. The sky is not starting to darken; it's going to rain in a bit. Standing up, she makes her way to the cold window. Her eyes then look down, to where a part of the glass is shattered.

"What the"

Aria crouches down and examines the glass. Her finger carelessly glides over the bits that are still intact to the frame; making her finger bleed. She then wipes her finger on her dress, _I can wash it later_.

Slowly, she makes her way to the bathroom for a relaxing bath and to change her clothes. She then makes her way to her bed, plopping herself harshly atop the soft, fluffy surface. The sun is still brightly shining; making it more difficult for the vampire to easily fall asleep.

With no other choice, she decides to explore her room a little. She starts out with the drawers; they're very tidy, not a **single** speck of dust anywhere. She _rummages_ further through the drawers, until her eyes stop at a picture that's located at the far end of a drawer.

She slowly takes and examines it thoroughly. It's a very old picture with only colors of sepia, in the picture, there's the whole family; Karl and Richter at the back with Beatrix, Cordelia, and Krista, also, the butler at the very side of them. And in front of the adults, there are all of the kids: Shu, Reiji, Ayato, Kanato, Raito, Subaru, and finally, the sister herself.

Unsure of why the picture is even in here, she looks at it for a little bit longer.

_We used to be one._

That voice in her head says caringly, as if a mother to her child.

_Don't think too much about it, time can wait_.

"If only… I can remember what happened back then" she sighs sadly.

Aria then closes the drawer slowly; her mind still hazy about this whole matter. She then comes up with an idea that it wasn't always like this; something happened in the past that resulted to the current condition.

If the little tantrum of hers' during the full moon isn't enough, this newly found nostalgia is even more; giving her a massive headache as if her head is being bludgeoning to death, sending her unconscious once again. Her eyes are teary and starting to slowly close.

Before all her consciousness fades away, she sees a shadow next to her. Looking even closer, the figure seems to be smirking with amusement. Right as the darkness sets in, the figure says something that is not even coherent to her.

"Very soon, my dear Aria. Very, very soon"


End file.
